Chuck vs The Asset
by Canadian Chucky
Summary: Sequel to vs The Doctor. Set 24hrs after the previous story, it covers Chuck's expanding abilities, his relationship with Sarah, and his 'value' to the government. Everybody wants something; answers, love, babies, information, but can he help everyone....
1. Prologue

_A/N: This story takes place about a day after the final chapter in my Chuck vs the Doctor story. I suggest you read it in its entirety before reading this story to get a better understanding of what is happening. I have provided a brief refresher summary covering most, but not all of the previous events of the preceding story._

_**Prologue**_

_Previously in Chuck vs The Doctor:_

_Embarking on a small surveillance mission turned into a starting point for Sarah and Chuck's real relationship. Shortly after the mission, Laslo obtained and contacted Sarah on her cell, providing her with important details regarding the intersect and the potential deadly hazards they could face from it. Through a series of events during the mission and at their after mission 'party', they had come to an understanding on their relationship. Casey had been monitoring the two and informed them he would keep the information from HQ as long as they did they jobs effectively. Unfortunately as is common in the Chuck universe, not everything goes to plan and shortly after their 'party', Chuck and the team was captured by an unknown entity for unknown reasons. _

_Initially Sarah and Casey were kept in a room separate from Chuck. When Chuck realized the rest of the team were in an adjacent room he worked to reunite them. It quickly became apparent that they were being forced to function as lab rats in an elaborate psychological experiment, with Chuck as the hinge point. The 'Doctor' was the lead man in charge and all instructions were relayed and carried out through his personal assistant, Mary._

_As part of the mental assessment, Sarah and Casey were eventually released with Chuck's help, but only at the whim of the Doctor. __The agents were unaware of who had helped them escape and had been tricked into believing that Chuck was safe at home. __Later the Doctor manipulated the agents into thinking he was torturing Chuck to death for helping them escape. In light of their new commitment to a real relationship the potential loss of Chuck hit Sarah quite hard and she was showing signs of emotional instability affecting her performance as an agent.  
_

_The Doctor monitored their return into the facility and a minor problem with some of the Doctor's staff created a dilemma for Sarah as she briefly snapped and brutally killed a man. She recovered somewhat but with a gap in her memory of violence moments before. The mental instability was added to the psych records the Doctor was keeping. Sarah did seem to regain her full faculties after successfully reaching and saving Chuck, suggesting an extremely deep emotional attachment to Chuck.  
_

_Meanwhile Chuck had gone through his own series of trials and tribulations; discovering some new found abilities, while dealing with the experimental drugs the Doctor injected into him, and meeting the sexy but strange assistant. _

_During the course of Team Chuck's incarceration, it became apparent to the readers that the Doctor was on a contract mission for a firm or agency known only as the 'Office'. Mary, his loyal assistant, also found out he had one or more side contracts with some high profile clients, overlapping on the current mission._

_The eventual escape of all Team members was allowed to happen at the whim of the Doctor and was achieved through a combination of Chuck's new abilities and minor help from Mary. Mary also forwarded a warning and a video msg of Sarah insanely killing the man earlier, to Chuck's phone. While he did see the video, he received the warning too late and the escape was marred as Sarah was critically injured. Chuck's insane race to the hospital to save Sarah allowed Casey to see some of Chuck's new abilities in action, leading him to draw serious conclusions about Chuck's background as a potential deep cover agent, working against them. Casey just needed proof. It also provided Casey with direct evidence that Chuck was as emotionally attached to her as she was to him.  
_

_The hospital stay was relatively uneventful after Sarah was admitted, and when out of surgery Sarah and Chuck shared a short but welcome moment together with hints of more to come. After being kicked out of her room Chuck took a break and met up with Casey for some grub. During the meal he succumbed to the lingering effects of the Doctor's experimental compound. Unbeknown to Chuck, one of the major points studied by the Doctor was how relationships and intimacy triggered biochemical reactions that inhibited the pain inducing compound. For Chuck his concern for Sarah and their fast growing relationship was minimizing the pain compound the Doctor had given him. Now that she was safe, his natural resistances had dropped, and he was feeling the full effect of the drug._

_ All test data was forwarded electronically to the Office, but not before Mary altered some of the information. Following Office procedures all data at the facility location was destroyed. __Shortly after the destruction of the facility, the Doctor listed the new compound on a secure Office site, with previous customers including the CIA, NSA and other notable government organizations. __ After finding out that the Doctor had been skimming her profits from missions and was officially retiring, she decided a change in her life direction was due.__ The Doctor, unaware of her revelation, invited her to come live with him, as he was retiring. Mary made a plan to 'collect' the money owed and get some revenge.  
_

_Casey made a late night stop at Sarah's room before reporting to HQ. The visit quickly turned into a relationship counseling session for Sarah ending with Casey bluntly telling her that she is just as screwed up as Chuck and they both needed some sex to relieve months of tension. He left no further ahead than when he entered.  
_

_Mary also had plans for Chuck__; having left the Doctor under the guise of running some last minute errands before she came to live with him . __She would visit Chuck to take sperm samples, knowing that the drugs she would use and the method of collection would trigger his innate resistance for long enough to see the compound dissipate from his system.  
_

_Sometime later Sarah woke, and after a short stint of news watching and a conversation with Casey, she was informed of Chuck's coma like state and taken to see him. __During her visit Mary was able to bypass security and remove both agents from Chuck's room for long enough to extract the samples. _

_Returning from the bogus tests, Sarah unknowingly met Mary on her way out of Chuck's room. Moments later Casey walked into Chuck's room, only to surprise Sarah in an embarrassing position. He had been there to inform her that Ellie had arrived at the hospital looking for Chuck. As Casey had not remembered to phone Ellie, she eventually showed up in a very unfavorable mood, having somehow figured out where Chuck was. _

_The ensuing interaction with Sarah was somewhat volatile, as she confronted her in private over Chuck's behavior, demanding under threats of bodily harm, what Sarah's intention with Chuck really was. Sarah, while twisting the truth about the recent events and hiding any government involvement, remained fairly factual on the information and eventually admitted to Ellie that she was in love with Chuck. The admission, coupled with some other information Sarah shared, led to an amicable understanding between them._

_About the same time Sarah and Ellie bonded, elsewhere in the city Mary received news that the sperm samples she got from Chuck indicated he would be an excellent genetic match and father to their children. In the meantime she was finishing final preparations to kill the Doctor with a method that even the Office would not fault her on._

_The events of the following story take place in the early afternoon hours of the following day._


	2. Monitoring

**Chapter 1:**

**Monitoring**

Chuck had woken up very refreshed and alert, not to mention very surprised to see blond hair laying across his chest. With a minimum of wiggling, he was able to watch Sarah as she slept on his shoulder. It didn't last long, as he felt her tense briefly, then relax as she lifted her head to look into his eyes. Like synchronized swimmers, simultaneous smiles flashed on their faces.

Shifting upwards, Chuck received a soft kiss, before she pulled away and moved beside his head to playfully nibble on his ear and whisper, "Good Morning, Chuck."

"That it is", he said, his grin increasing in size.

Even Casey's entrance into the room seconds later had no affect on Chuck's upbeat mood although the same couldn't be said of Sarah. A small sigh of frustration slipped out of Sarah's mouth, heard only by Chuck, as her lips slowly pulled away from his ear lobe. Wordlessly Sarah slipped out of his bed to use the washroom, but not before Chuck pulled her in for another soft kiss on the lips, while Casey watched.

For a fraction of a second Chuck had the overwhelming feeling that he was cursed, or at least being mildly tortured by someone, as every time he was becoming _friendly_ with Sarah, someone interrupted. He had even coined the term 'Charah' to describe their strange relationship. Unfortunately there was always come grumpy buttwipe bent on disrupting their 'Charah' moments. He sighed and brushed the thought away like dirty cobwebs. Who was he kidding, it was more likely that it was his own fault for thinking he could actually do anything with her in a public hospital, private room or not.

In the meantime Casey stood staring at him with a mild look of disgust.

"Well good morning to you Mr. Sunshine", Chuck quipped.

A half smile graced Casey's face for a mere moment, before he grunted, "I see you're still alive."

Chuck knew that was Casey's 'glad you're ok' line and he felt better for it. "Yah I guess so. Sorry to disappoint you big guy, I knew how much you were looking forward to getting a new assignment."

Casey grunted, the half smile slipping back on his face and sticking this time. "I think I'm doing just fine where I am. Someone has to keep you two in line and on track. When Walker gets back out here we're going to cover some of the _finer _points of your stay at club med."

"Speaking of my stay, what went on with Ellie and Sarah last night?"

"It was a female thing Chuck. I avoid _female things_."

"What exactly is a _female thing_, Casey? "Cause I tend to think of that description as applying to feminine hygiene products."

Casey, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation, rolled his eyes. "I meant a cat fight, you know two women fighting? You have heard of that before or are you too much of a nerd for that too?"

Before Chuck could pick his jaw up off the floor Casey muttered more in an almost unconscious voice, "Although it couldn't have been much of a fight, I didn't see any wounds or find anything broken."

"Sarah and Ellie were fighting! About what!"

Casey had reached his Chuck limit on this topic and his grimace was back. He stared at Chuck to see if he would answer his own question. Chuck just sat on the bed waiting for Casey to respond.

_Apparently not, he thought. _He expelled some breath and helped him out. "Your an idiot Bartowski. _No, _I don't think they are fighting any more. Yes I have a good idea what it was about and no I'm not going to tell you. Now shut up so I can have some peace."

"Okayyyyy", Chuck said in a low voice as he pressed the button to raise the bed to get more comfortable while they waited for Sarah.

Sarah stood with her hands on the sink, face dripping cold water, while she watched the water swirl down the drain. Her mind drawing obtuse comparisons to her moments alone with Chuck and water flowing down the drain. Waking up with him made her feel somehow complete, if not slightly fearful of the overwhelming feelings he extracted from her. The saving grace was that whatever he pulled from her, he gave back tenfold. She had so wanted to take the next step with him, but there never seemed to be a moment's piece. Hell she couldn't even give him a_ proper_ good morning without someone standing next to the bed. Well _she _could, but she was pretty sure Chuck would balk at even the thought of being watched.

She splashed more cold water on her face in a futile attempt to wash some of the steamy thoughts from her head. It hadn't helped that his previous aversion to pda had suddenly disappeared. The change had seemingly happened almost overnight; literally. She didn't think it had anything to do with her actions yesterday, specifically when she was checking out his _package_, right up to the point Casey scared the shit out of her.

Now he is pulling her in and actually initiating kisses; in front of Casey, of all people. And the kiss; it didn't have the feel of the kiss when she came to rescue him. No, this one was expected, gentle and _intimate _in a strangely comfortable fashion_._ As if he had suddenly become comfortable with her and their relationship. She loved it but she had a nagging feeling like she had missed something. She just couldn't put her finger on it. Like he had moved to a new level of intimacy without her and yet--

Casey grunted on the other side of the door.

She sighed. Again, time being as restricted as it was, she would have to suck it up and deal with her _urges and evaluations_ later.

Taking a deep breath, she turned off the water and prepared herself to meet with Casey for a discussion on their real jobs.

Casey took charge of the meeting as soon as Sarah was out of the bathroom. He received word that HQ wanted an update on the situation as soon as possible. That meant her and Casey would be making a report shortly.

--

While short, the briefing was not what she expected. They were direct in with the orders, offering little to no explanation. According to orders and regardless of her hospital status, she was to be considered the only active agent allowed to stay with Chuck. The Director and General had made it very clear they would not be sending anyone else to back them up while Chuck was in the hospital. They also stated they had no reason to believe Fulcrum was involved or that any other threats were imminent at this time.

Casey was to be set to be released from hospital care shortly after the mission briefing. His orders were surveillance. He would tap into the security feeds for the hospital. With a few days off for medical leave, he was to use the time to watch the surveillance feeds from a room in the basement. He was not happy with it and for the first time, it showed on his face while talking to HQ. If the brass noticed Casey's slight shift in attitude and expression, they didn't let on.

They asked a few minor questions and were dismissed. They had shared one of their WTF? looks and continued as ordered.

Casey was discharged as expected and was already sitting downstairs monitoring the comings and goings of everyone.

In her case, the doctor had agreed to release her from the hospital provided she took it easy. Everything had been healing well and as long as she wasn't doing any strenuous activities with her abdomen for the next 5 days or so, she would be just fine.

While she did agree to his demands, she informed him up front that she would be staying as an overnight visitor as long as her boyfriend remained in here. He had been reluctant to allow it, but between her insistence that she would not be in the way and Dr. Bartowski's string pulling with the hospital staff, he agreed. After a long steady look at her, he shrugged. His only stipulation was that if _anyone _interfered with his job as a doctor, he would remove them. Deal or no deal. Sarah had no problems with that and agreed.

She did ask if sex was an option. A raised eyebrow and a quick glance cast at the wide eyed, open mouthed young man in the room and the words "two weeks" was the only answer he would give before he left. She had problems with that part of it but she waited this long, what was two measly weeks.

--

It was already late afternoon and Sarah found that she didn't really need to keep herself busy. After the strange briefing with HQ earlier that morning, and the frequent stream of visitors for herself and Chuck, she had her hands full.

Once Ellie had gotten the word out that Chuck, Sarah and Casey were in the hospital, the visitors started rolling in a steady stream. Everyone had wondered why Sarah was in more casual clothes, and she explained that she was helping Chuck out and staying with him while he's in the hospital. The visitors were told that Casey was given a clean bill of health by the doctors, and released, although nobody seemed to really mind that he wasn't there. If they had only know that Casey was just as happy with that as they were.

--

Casey was quickly beginning to enjoy his room. He didn't have to worry about anyone bothering him, and if he wanted food, he just had to head up to the cafeteria, which he decided wasn't a bad idea right now.

As luck would have it, Morgan had found him in the hospital cafeteria grabbing a quick snack before heading back to his hole in the basement. Unfortunately for him, Morgan interpreted Casey's appearance at the hospital to mean that he was a big softy under his tough exterior and actually cared about Chuck, that's why he was still hanging around the hospital.

For his part Casey tried to keep a low profile and tolerated Morgan as they walked back to Chuck's room. They only made it ½ way before Casey stormed off, unable to handle his constant nattering. Morgan entered Chuck's room wearing a pudding and Anna could be heard consoling him, "Morgan, maybe John doesn't like sandwiches?"

Waiting until Morgan had left, Casey was seen poking his head into the room just long enough to tell Sarah to _cover _Chuck, he was heading back down to the "Hole", as he liked to call it.

And cover him she did, leaving him for only the briefest of moments. While he had been quite jovial for most of the day, his chest had started to override some of the painkillers, damping his mood. By supper it was difficult for Chuck to talk for long periods of time. It didn't stop his visitors. At least until Sarah put her foot down and restricted them to specific times, and rotating shifts. He was never going to get better if everyone kept talking to him.

Of course, the notable exceptions were Ellie, Devon, Morgan and Casey. Although she kept an eye on Morgan, as he tended to get carried away and lose track of time and do generally stupid things. Like jumping on Chuck's bed to give him a big hug _after _he had been told that Chuck had broken ribs. Fortunately Devon had pulled him off, as Chuck passed out from the pain. There was no lasting damage, but Sarah made sure she was _sitting_ on Chuck's bed, when Morgan was in the room. What better way to keep him off of Chuck than to jump in front for an interception.

A lot of Chuck's friends were complaining about the restrictive visiting and had begun using words like 'warden', 'master' and 'ball and chain'. At least they did until Ellie stepped in to back her up. She was very adamant that Sarah was correct in cutting times down to manageable amounts and she had done nothing wrong. If they had a problem with Sarah, then they had a problem with _her_.

Not used to being on the receiving end of Ellie's temper every was surprised, but the response was immediate. Everyone sensed some kind of understanding between the two women and no one wanted to take them both on. There was the odd notable exception like the particularly loud confrontation between Sarah and Big Mike over work issues. It was like watching a tag team between his sister, the doctor, and his girlfriend and protector.

After Big Mike had been vanquished, Chuck did notice that his knight protectors where exchanging looks; Ellie flashed Sarah a smile to which Sarah responded with a wink. After that Chuck was pretty sure he missed something important between the two women the night before. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.

After all the visitors were long gone and the hospital had quieted down, Casey slipped in to finally get a detailed report from Chuck on their recent capture and subsequent escape.

By the time Chuck was done going over the events of their incarceration, everyone was quite tired. It didn't stop the agents from noticing that Chuck had been quite vague on a few subjects. What happened when Mary took him to the washroom, how he hacked into the computer system, twice apparently, and how he had known how to use and drive the Herder like he had done. The information on his flash on the Doctor and connections to the CIA and NSA had been particularly disturbing to the agents, but they didn't dwell on it, and kept Chuck on track with his replay of the events.

Casey had let the stuff with Mary slide, although it was quite apparent that Sarah would be getting a more detailed account from Chuck when Casey was gone. Casey ignored most of the computer hacking stuff, as it could be explained by his familiarity with computers and their corresponding operation systems from just being a nerd.

But when Chuck was _lacking _details on the Nerd Herd rally race to the hospital Casey darn near had a coronary. Sarah had tried to calm him down, but even she caught herself looking at Chuck in surprise after Casey began throwing around phrases like, "_almost shit my pants watching him drive" and "I thought I was going to be found in the crushed back seat of a Herder!"_

Chuck was always very detailed when explaining flashes and any relevant information. After all his life could depend on it. Yet when discussing his driving or the Herder controls and feature use, he _seemed_ to be as much in the dark as they were. Laslo's words from days earlier echoed in her mind and she made a mental note to ask him more in private, _after_ she asked about Mary, of course.

Unfortunately Casey was more direct and didn't want to wait; threatening Chuck with little more bodily harm while telling him that "he was already in a hospital anyway".

His threats turned Sarah's temper to red hot in very short order and resulted in Chuck turning white as his movements to lean out of the bed to separate the two agents tweaked his ribs, causing him considerable pain. Casey backed down after realizing he had inadvertently caused Chuck to hurt himself. If Sarah or Chuck noticed his concern, especially after he had just threatened him with pain and suffering, neither mentioned it. He left shortly after to continue his assigned hospital surveillance and look for possible leads on the Doctor character that Chuck had described earlier.

--

The helicopter had just landed on the island helipad, when Mary was greeted by a scantily clad female servant. "The Doctor is awaiting your arrival, Miss", she said.

_I'll bet he is, _Mary thought. _The son of a bitch bought himself a frikken island and a state of the art house by exploiting me and stealing my money._ Mary's face and body reflected nothing but a relaxed calm, regardless of her thoughts.

In the mean time the pretty servant may be polite but she was to sizing up Mary as potential competition with her eyes.

Mary kept her smile steady but added a very slight sway to her hips. She could easily 'out tramp' the servant without even trying.

The steward showed her to the Doctors bedroom. Everything was opulent and beautiful but Mary only had eyes for the bed. No time like the present to get started, she thought, as she pulled some stiletto's and a body hugging micro mini dress out of her bag. "Which way to the bathroom, please? I would like to clean up and change into something more comfortable for the Doctor.

From the way the servant eyed her distastefully, she knew the Doctor was sleeping with her too. Not that it was a problem, on the contrary, it was a good thing and would work to her advantage. She left that thought to hang as she closed the bathroom door behind her and began to change and redo her makeup.

--

Casey watched from his basement room as Walker climbed into bed with Chuck, carefully avoiding the broken ribs. He didn't have audio, but it didn't take long to see her face turn cold as she talked to him. He chuckled as it was all too likely he was filling her in on details he had withheld earlier on _Mary. _Casey's mind kicked into overdrive, only a small portion registering the _making _up Chuck was doing to placate Sarah. He watched for another few seconds, of course she was having none of that and told him to get some sleep before cuddling up and resting her head on his shoulder.

The rest of his brain was thinking about the Intersect. After all the Intersect didn't like to just give up its secrets willy nilly. You had to find just the right trigger. He grunted and a small smile escaped from him. He figured the easiest way to test Chucks ability was to get him to take part in some informal tests to try and duplicate the driving experience.

Of course, Walker wouldn't agree to any of it and Casey didn't want HQ to find out what he was doing. It wasn't like he was hiding anything from them, he just wanted to make sure he didn't look like a fool and present erroneous information or worse, information that would impact him directly in a 'termination' type way. Especially in light of the fact that he was supposed to be on surveillance only.

He had thought about the fact that they had not bothered to issue any orders to attempt to track down the Doctor and his assistant. He brushed it off as being expected of him without giving direct instructions. After all their biggest data asset was currently laid up in the hospital and it's not like he was doing anything else with his time.

Even with the extra time, he just couldn't get the Herder ride out of his mind. Casey evaluated his options. If Chuck couldn't or wouldn't provide the data he wanted then his first step was to figure out was where to take him to get him tested?

He could take Chuck to an arcade, but he would stand out like a sore thumb. The problem wasn't Chuck, it was him. John Casey wouldn't be caught dead in an arcade, unless he had actually chased someone inside; then whomever he was chasing would be the dead one.

If anyone saw him there, they would immediately know it was out of character. He couldn't ask Walker either, as he wanted to find out if she already knew or was involved. He was just started to warm up to the idea of them actually being a real couple, although he wasn't so sure he could keep HQ from knowing, and if Chuck and Sarah were collaborating on some other intel stuff without him, he would be informing HQ, regardless of his feelings for them.

Casey gave his head a shake and grunted to himself. He was shifting down tangents. That was reason you never had friends or family. They distract your thoughts.

He forced his thoughts back to testing Chuck. He could get access one of the CIA training facilities, but would look odd if Walker wasn't along.

Casey automatically slipped in mission mode and began forming a mental checklist of what needed to be done. He would have to set it up perfectly to keep everyone from guessing what he was doing.

This was definitely more his speed. Much better than babysitting.

Time to get to work.


	3. More Than Meets The Eye

**Chapter 2**

**More than Meets the Eye:**

He entered her office closing the door behind him. She was sitting at her desk looking in his direction; obviously waiting for him. He kept his voice flat. No sense in giving anything away. "General"

"Director"

"You had requested I stop by. The secretary said it was urgent. As we only have one joint project, I must assume it's concerning the Intersect. Is there some kind of problem with it?"

"No, it's not Bartowski. This has to do with another _potential _joint project. It has come to my attention that we are locked in a stalemate on a certain auction. I asked you here to propose a settlement."

"Sorry General. The CIA doesn't settle, but if you were to concede us as the winner, we might see it in our mutual interest to give you _some _access...at our discretion, of course."

"Well isn't that a coincidence, _Director Graham_, I was just going to offer you the same."

The room was tight with tension until the General sighed. "Look. You know as well as I do that there is a new bidder from Dubai. The last bid of theirs was dangerously close to winning. Need I remind you what happens if they do."  
Director Graham kept his face passive, his eyes cold. He stared at her, then looked away at a small counter in the office. "You don't mind if I help myself to a coffee do you?" He casually asked, then proceeded to help himself without waiting for an answer.

If looks could kill he would have been dead before reaching the cups. "By all means, you look like you _need it." _

His hand paused for a fraction of a second as he registered the barb she had levelled at him, but he chose a different tack. "_If, _and I do mean if, we were to bid jointly, then the CIA gets controlling interest."

"I don't think so", she snarled.

"Need I remind you that the CIA _requires _everything it can to fight the global war on terrorists, while _traditionally _the NSA's _job _is to make sure our communications are safe and reviewed for threats. Something best done while sitting behind a desk. The last time I checked your mandate, it didn't say anything about torturing people for information."

"Well if you're _so concerned_ about the NSA keeping our _data _safe, then you won't mind if we stick the Intersect in one of _our NSA _secure bunkers. Besides, wouldn't your agent be more comfortable jet setting around the world on missions?"

It was his turn to cast the frosty eye in her direction. She had the upper hand, for now. "Fine. Status Quo for the Intersect, but we joint bid the auction and share control evenly."

"No. The NSA gets controlling interest."

"I don't think so. _You came to me_ for permission to test it. I would have been perfectly happy without the final trials. Matter of fact, I do find it _odd _ that you wanted them to be the test subjects, considering this type of compound isn't generally something you require in your area of expertise."

Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly. He knew he had her on something; but he had no idea what it was he had. The only clue was somehow tied to the Bartowski and his handlers.

"Fine. Joint control. Now take your coffee and get out."

He left the still full cup on the edge of her desk and walked out. Closing the door behind him, he got about two steps before he heard the cup hit the door.

The day was going pretty well, all things considered.

--

The doctors told Chuck it would take 4-8 weeks for his ribs to completely heal. The doctor told Sarah that the absolute minimum for _any _intercourse was two weeks and even then, they would have to take it easy. No pressure on his chest and no twisting or stretching of her abdomen.

Chuck took the news pretty well, all things considered. Sure he was _very _surprised when she had asked the doctor, but the response was right in line with his life as a nerd. For guys like Bryce, no meant yes. For Chuck no really meant no.

Sarah on the other hand, was perfectly calm, but Chuck would swear that she was going to devour him with her eyes. He had asked her if she was alright with that and she did her _agent smile _and said it was fine, but he was able to see the signs. That and the fact she wouldn't stop staring. Not that he minded that one bit.

Chuck had spent 2 more days under observation in the hospital before they sent him home. The last couple of days were more for a possible reoccurrence of the toxin than the broken ribs. Being home didn't mean he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. The doctor had given strict instructions that there should be no pressure on the chest and he was to sleep inclined for at least the first week.

Broken ribs weren't a really dangerous, unless you weren't careful about it. Some of the more common problems were related to the cough suppression medication and its tendency to lead to pneumonia. Other than that, there could be complications with lungs, the spleen and heart if the ribs were pressed on too violently. Chuck didn't have any plans to get jumped the first week and he could sleep in the easy chair or couch. Not like he hadn't done it before, watching tv while Devon and Ellie worked graveyard shifts.

Chuck liked being home, even if he had to sleep sitting up. What he didn't like was that Sarah had gone back to work at Weinerlicious. Not by her choice, of course.

By appealing to Scooters sense of compassion she was able to stay with Chuck at the hospital. At least that's what she said. He was more inclined to believe she was blowing smoke up Scooters ass and when that didn't work she probably threatened him. Either way Scooter had let her stay at the hospital for a few days, but he refused to give her time off now that Chuck was at home. Something about two doctors living with him, so what was a wiener girl good for? Apparently Casey had caught wind of that conversation and was in a good mood for the remainder of the day.

Chuck couldn't say the same as he had spent the entire first day by himself, watching TV. When she came to visit after work he had fallen asleep sitting up on the couch. She had covered him with a blanket and then gone to check in with Casey. Later she came back in and climbed onto the couch with him, laying her head across his lap. Sex may be out, but she saw no reason to waste a perfectly good cuddling. Her shifts this week were all late afternoon to evening, so she made sure that she was with Chuck in the morning. The first morning was quite the shock in more ways than one. Ellie and Devon were already at work when she woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs.

Quietly walking to the kitchen she heard the sizzle of bacon and watched as Chuck was busy tending the multitude of pans on the stove.

Tilting her head to the side, "Morning Chuck. Since when did you learn to cook?"

He turned to greet her, an ear to ear smile as always. "Morning sleepy head, and what's that supposed to mean? I've always known how to cook. My dad taught me. We used to make breakfast for everyone on the weekends. Ellie was the sleepy head than." He chuckled. "She slept like the dead. Couldn't wake her up for anything."

"Dad used to say she just needed some beauty sleep. I used to make fun, but looking at her now...maybe I should've spent more time sleeping."

She snickered at him. "I think you did just fine Chuck." She pulled some plates from the cupboard while he watched. "So you learned all this from your dad?"

"Yah, but I didn't really get to put it to good use until later on."

The bacon sizzled and popped forcing his attention back to the stove. He spoke over his shoulder as he scooped the bacon out of the pan and onto a plate to cool.

"Matter of fact it was how I paid some of my bills at Stanford."

She shook her head, pleasantly surprised at how versatile Chuck was if you just scratched under the service. "How on earth did you manage to turn bacon and eggs into money?"

She could hear the smile in his voice when he answered.

"I had been pulling an all nighter with Bryce and he said he was hungry. I told him that if he could find a kitchen and food, I would make us some grub. He did and I did. It turned out not too bad."

"Word, or rather, smell got out pretty fast and next thing you know I was working to feed about 50 people before the prof's showed up to break up the gathering."

"Oh. Were you reprimanded?"

"Actually, while they were lecturing me on use of cafeteria food and property, the Dean had shown up and started sampling the food. Next thing I know, I'm earning money in the cafeteria cooking breakfast for students."

"Not only did they pay me an hourly wage, but I brokered myself a small commission into the deal" he said smugly, as he divided the eggs onto the plates."

"It only lasted my first year though."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did your school work take up too much time?"

He shook his head, then glanced at her, his eyes mischievous. "Don't be and No. They brought in full time breakfast cooks. It seems that they had discontinued the service years ago, because no one ate breakfast anymore. Apparently I had revitalized the industry and kicked myself out of a job."

"Did you ever do something different to make extra money?"

They had set the food on the table and while Sarah grabbed cutlery and juice, Chuck grabbed the fruit salad he had prepared and some cups. "You could say that. I ended up working in the professor's private cafeteria making more speciality breakfasts. I made less meals yet I made twice the money. I really enjoyed it. At least I did until Bryce..."

His sentence trailed off for reasons Sarah already knew.

She ignored it and began to eat, starting with a slice of bacon. Her eyes widened. For such a simple food, Chuck was actually a competent cook. "Wow Chuck. You weren't kidding. It helps that I _love _bacon. My dad used to make it all..." She let the sentence die. She looked at Chuck while he waited patiently for her to decide the direction of the conversation. She wasn't quite ready to talk family so she steered back to the food. "I just never really get the time for a nice breakfast."

His grin was back. He said nothing about her comments on family knowing she would say more when she was ready.

"So how come you haven't been making _your girlfriend _breakfast before this?" She said, raising an accusing eyebrow at him.

His eyes were strangely mysterious when suddenly his face became serious. "Well Sarah, it is high in salt and cholesterol and I didn't want you to get fat. Wouldn't be able to do your job very well now would you?" He turned his face towards his plate.

Sarah couldn't believe her ears. Did he just insult her! Before she could respond to his outrageous statement he continued in a monotone voice.

"Especially considering the kind of snacks you eat at that wiener place. Eat enough of them and you'll be a house in no time. Then I would be in real trouble. Who's going to chase down those bad guys? Surely not my Loch Ness sized girlfriend. Casey would probably come up with all kinds of nicknames...Agent thunder thighs or something."

He ended his sentence by looking up from his plate with the wicked grin and dancing eyes. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After Sarah had collected herself enough to put words to her feelings she started in on Chuck, "Oh mister you are so-"

Before getting into it with Chuck, she was cut off by the sound of laughter as it echoed through the complex finding its way into the Bartowski house through the open living room window. She knew that laughter. It was coming from the direction of Casey's apartment. She pushed the chair away and moved to the window. Casey's door was open and he had just staggered to the fountain before dropping to his knees, laughing so hard it was obvious he couldn't stand. Apparently he had been listening at the time Chuck had insulted her. That was _so not funny! Now she was mad._

She spun to give Chuck a piece of her mind and found him standing directly behind her with a blend of puppy dog eyes and a expression that exuded a 'please don't kill me' feeling.

He rushed to speak, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Please don't be mad Sarah. I did it for us."

"_Excuse me?_ I compliment you on breakfast and jokingly ask you why you haven't done it before and you tell me that you didn't want me to get _fat!_"

"Actually I believe I implied I didn't want you Loch Ness sized, which would be _really large_. But in retrospect maybe fat-"

"CHUCK!"

"Sorry, but I made a deal with Casey", he blurted, hoping to stave off any more of his bumbling.

"You. Made. A. Deal...?" She figured now was a good time to let him elaborate. If she pushed him, he would just dig himself a huge hole and she knew were that led. No where good.

"Before we left the hospital, I had some time to talk to Casey and he said he doesn't laugh much."

"I told him that I could get him to laugh. He said that if I could do that he would arrange a week off of our cover jobs to spend time together, _but _I only had 24 hours to do it."

Again the puppy dog eyes come out. "I tried everything last night while you were at work and nothing. I was getting desperate. While eating, I remembered some of the professors comments on eating too much bacon and it just...popped into my head."

She gave him a very quizzical look, unsure of how to take what he told her. On one hand he had made fun of her for Casey's enjoyment, on the other no one was _physically _hurt, _at least not yet, and _Chuck was desperate to get them the week off of work. She didn't know how Casey would arrange it but she could accept it...sort of.

She narrowed her eyes. "Your still in the dog house until I say otherwise."

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the worst was over.

"Good job Bartowoski!" Chuck winced in pain as he had jerked a bit when Casey startled him. He had moved from the fountain and was standing just on the other side of the window with a smirk that could not get any wider. At least Chuck hoped it couldn't.

"I haven't laughed like that in years" Casey said, as he tossed a smile in Sarah's direction.

She couldn't help but let a snide remark slip. "Oh your _ever so welcome, _Casey."

"I'll let you two get back to breakfast. You just let me know when you want that time Chuck." He turned and walked back to his apartment, yelling over his shoulder, "Agent Thunder, try to go easy on that bacon." His chuckling could be heard as his door closed.

They had returned to the table to finish their meal while talking about nothing specific. The rest of the meal had gone quite well in comparison to the first half but it wasn't long before Sarah declared she needed to use the washroom to get ready. While she grabbed her bags and jumped into the washroom to shower, Chuck would take care of the dishes. Chuck was clearing the table when he noticed Sarah had left three of the four pieces of bacon he had given her.

He had spent the entire meal looking at her and not her food. He hadn't even noticed that she had left the bacon. He looked at them for a split second before grabbing them off the plate and marching down the hall to the bathroom door. He knocked and waited for her to open the door.

Stripped and ready to climb in the show, she opened the door enough to lean sideways and show her face. "Chuck? What's up?"

He held up the food. "You forgot to eat your bacon."

"I didn't forget Chuck."

"Were you full?"

"I just didn't..."

As naive as he was, he suddenly very much aware how a little prank could affect others in ways you least expect it.

"Sarah. If I didn't want you to eat it I wouldn't have put it on your plate."

With as much sincerity as he could give, he added "I'm sorry if I implied I wouldn't love you if you gained weight. I will always love you, no matter how much bacon you eat." He finished with a smile and again held the bacon up.

She looked into the brown depths of his eyes and reached for the bacon but grabbing his hand instead. Pulling him towards the door opening by his hand she gave him a gentle kiss, then slipped the bacon out of his hand. Between bites she mumbled a thank you.

Turning to close the door, Chuck got her attention once more.

"Sarah?"

"Mmmph?" she replied with a mouth full of bacon.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. Everything looks good from here." The affection his face showed was highlighted by a hint of lust in his eyes.

Not knowing how to respond to that she nodded absently and closed the door. It wasn't until she turned to face the shower that she realized the medicine cabinet door was open and her body was reflected in the mirror.

She felt the blood rush to her face as she realized that when she pulled Chuck in for a kiss, he was in the perfect position to see her naked ass.

_Great, she thought. Now I need a cold shower._

--


	4. The Beginning of the End

_A/N: I should mention that there is some sexual content. _

_July 31/08 - Edit A/N: Due to the complexity of the next few chapters, some already pushing 6k words, I am taking a little extra time to get them brought up to speed and polished. There is a spiderweb of timing issues and I am trying to make sure everything stays in a logical progression. I apologize for taking so long on this. :) Hopefully the effort will pay off. It's also darn difficult squeeze certain topics into a Teen rating ;)_

**Chapter 3**

**The Beginning of the End:**

Mary was enjoying her new home. After she had checked in with the Doctor and gave him a proper hello, she had excused herself to meet the rest of the staff. "_No sense in being a stranger"_, she had told him. There had been a little friction with the staff to begin with, and she wanted to resolve that quite quickly.

The Doctor's opulent island mansion had a total staff of 14, not counting security. Six were general cleaning maids, 4 were kitchen staff, 2 were gardeners that doubled as window cleaners. One tended the pool and surrounding area while doubling as a helicopter pilot and 1 was the Doctor's personal assistant. Only the gardeners and pool attendant were male. The remaining staff was all beautiful long legged women wearing uniforms designed to show off their assets.

She had gone right to the assistant first. _Always better to start at the top and work down, _she thought. A few casual drinks at one of the several house bars and she had made a friend. Her new _friend _filled her in on all the latest news.

It started with gossip on simple things and moved quickly into more detailed talk.

One such conversation started with the fact that the kitchen staff wore flat shoes for safety reasons. It, of course needed an explanation and it became more entertaining the more the assistant spoke. Apparently there had been an incident where the Doctor had decided to forgo his supper in favour of dessert with the cook in the kitchen. She had slipped on some gravy during his dessert and sprained her ankle. He had banned stilettos and any other form of high heel from the kitchen that very night. _How thoughtful of him, she thought sarcastically._

Apparently the Doctor was as much of a sex fiend at home as he was on the job. He was sleeping with all the female staff on a regular basis and was much more open with it at his home than he was ever at work. She didn't mention it to the assistant, but his frequent sex with the staff would work in her favour on the mission.

The assistant told her that all the staff had been informed of Mary's arrival. They were to defer to her on everything. They had taken that news, much as anyone in their position would; as a threat. Mary assured the assistant that she had no intention of rocking the boat. If anything, Mary reinforced the idea that women should stick together in order to get ahead in a man dominated world. The assistant had been wary at first but as Mary spoke to her she found herself swayed by this new woman.

Mary insisted that all the female staff shouldn't feel threatened by her arrival and if anything she would help ensure equilibrium in the household. Far be it for her to come in and usurp the goings on of the house to the detriment of the current staff. The assistant had found her arguments compelling but was unsure what Mary thought was lacking or how to improve whatever it was.

Mary had her right where she wanted her. Telling her she would show her, she stepped in front of the assistant, pining her to the chair before leaning down and kissing her. The partially inebriated woman was hesitant at first, but quickly responded with enthusiasm.

Mary's assessment of her had been bang on. You don't get a job like the assistant's, on strong moral fibre, especially when working for someone like the Doctor.

By the end of the week, the two women had coerced all the female staff to join their movement. In essence, Mary now had every female servant working for her. They just didn't know it.

It wasn't about strength, as much as it was about a strong organization with everyone getting a fair share. And God knows Mary had very explicit idea of what size share the Doctor deserved.

--o--

Casey was sitting in his lazy boy, pants on the floor, headphones on. The ice clinked on the side of the glass as it and the scotch spun in a lazy funnel formation, from the circular movement of his hand. He had given up on relaxing; it was too stressful. He needed to _do _something; but what?

He was stumped, partially due to his own stubbornness. He had spent all week searching for clues on the Doctor and his assistant Mary and had turned up nothing. Not a name, place, not a single scrap of evidence, circumstantial or otherwise. They might as well have been kidnapped by the tooth fairy. There was more proof that it existed than there was on the Doctor.

It didn't help that he wasn't soliciting HQ for some help on this. He just couldn't bring himself to report to them that he had found absolutely zero on their abductors. He attributed that to his pride.

He knew that his pride could get him killed, but he was actually more concerned about his gut feeling. And his guts weren't telling him anything good. Several days ago, he had _tentatively alluded _that he would _start_ looking into the Doctor's whereabouts, while Sarah watched Chuck. The change in attitude of the Director and General was subtle...and dangerous. If he didn't know better he would've sworn that they were weighing his continued value as a _live_ agent.

He had dropped the subject by immediately brushing it off. They did the same. The damning evidence was that they made no requests for him to look into or follow up on anything related to the Doctor. They didn't even seem to want any reports on their captivity, merely accepting them as protocol required. Where those reports went after submission was anybody's guess and he would take bets they were filed under "G" for 'Garbage'.

That left him doing it on his own. Walker had been busy with her cover job and her sudo-cover-real life. She wasn't too happy about HQ's strange behaviour, but there was not much she could do with it, other than keep it quiet. She wasn't in the position to rock the boat. As it was she was still working with Chuck, trying to get a handle on _feelings_ and a stable relationship. Two things she total sucked at.

The rest of Casey's time had been spent racking his brain on Chuck's Nerd Herder driving. He had some basic ideas on how to test Bartowski, but the idea needed some fine tuning.

His only highlight of the week had been several days ago when had made that deal with Chuck. It would be a pain in the ass to cover his part of the deal, but it was worth it. Only downside was he didn't have a picture of her face when Bartowski insulted Walker. It would have been priceless.

Sure he made up with her, but he had expected Bartowski to do that.

He knew _she _hadn't expected him to insult her. What was almost as funny was him trying to get back in her good graces before she kicked his ass. That had been the highpoint of the week. Looking back, it didn't seem quite as funny.

Maybe it had something to do with the subject material he was going over. He didn't have many alternatives. He needed to test Chuck's abilities. The only acceptable location nearby was an older CIA facility that had since been converted to a document archive and training facility. He just needed a reason to bring Chuck and Walker to a training facility.

Once there he would need to distract Walker long enough to get Chuck into a one of the vehicle training simulation machines. He needed to convince Chuck to actually take the test. As it is a CIA training facility, he would need to find a way to ensure the testing is not recorded.

Complicating all of it was their new _relationship. _Like any couple they wanted to be together 24/7. In this case Walker was almost required to do exactly that as his protector. She would not want to leave his side unless it was something that she had to do alone.

Casey growled to himself. He wasn't a big fan of these kinds of operations. He preferred more frontal assaults.

He downed the scotch and poured himself another glass before getting up and moving to the whiteboard.

He jotted down the problems point by point, keeping them completely vague in case anyone saw the list.

-facility

-divide

-test

-avoid

If he used the premise of reviewing archive records for flash material, he could get Chuck and Sarah along to go to the Training Facility as it would be unlikely to have any Fulrum or other enemy agents.

He could get Walker distracted by calling in a favour, but the more people involved, the messier it got. No, it had to be simpler. A light bulb flashed in his head. Why bring her along at all?

Make sure she has a full day shift at the Wienerlicious and book the time off for Chuck and I at the last minute. Bingo bongo. I take Chuck for testing and she finds out too late to do anything about it. He grabbed a dry erase maker and put a check beside facility and divide.

Now the testing. The facility was notorious for recording tests and applicants. Pacing, Casey suddenly found himself in the kitchen opening a can of tuna. He liked tuna. It was brain food. He grabbed a fork and absently began munching on tuna as he stared at the whiteboard.

He needed all the brain power he could get in order to pull this off.

--o--

Chuck was slowly munching on a bowl of cereal.

"You ready for some coffee?", she asked. His mouth full, he bobbed his head up and down. Pulling in a deep breath she stood, her eyes casting an affectionate glance at him.

Sarah had the day off and was spending it with her _boyfriend. S_he so loved thinking that. Saying it was even better, but she tried to keep that to minimum when alone and in bugged locations and right now they were at Casa Bartowski. Casey was at home but he was busy trying to dig up research on the Doctor. He had already signed off on the bugs and everyone else was at work. She was so glad he was on board with them. It would make things so much easier.

Of course, easy was somewhat of a relative term in this case. They had yet to see results on anything they were working on. Their luck had seemingly evaporated. Matter of fact there was several things, they hadn't had any luck with.

Casey had no luck in determining who The Doctor was or why he captured them. Then there was the strange behaviour Casey had noticed during mission briefings to HQ. His gut told him to watch out for a double cross and he had echoed that to his teammates. Well, he had told his partner. Sarah already had a tough time believing it. If Chuck had been told he probably would've freaked out and Sarah couldn't blame Casey for thinking that; he was likely correct.

She still hadn't found any explanations for Chucks driving or hacking abilities. She could assume it was as Laslo said, and Chuck was pulling it from the Intersect, but she had no proof.

The was one other area she hadn't made progress in yet and that required Chuck's participation. He had been unusually resistant but she was working on him. He had to give in sooner or later. Doctor be damned. She just had to make sure they went _very slowly_. The coffee stream wavered as she poured two cups worth. _Very slowly indeed. _She caught herself in time to stop the second mug from overflowing.

Leaning forward she sucked a little out of the overfull cup before picking them both up. She took both coffees and walked to the table where Chuck was still mulling over the bet she had made moments earlier.

As she handed him the coffee it occurred to her that his lips were moving –_slowly; _her mind only half hearing while she contemplated their current topic. A topic she started and fully intended to finish. She focused on what he was saying half way through the sentence.

"... I never said I didn't like it. It just not something you can do anywhere or everywhere.

Her right brow arced upwards and the corners of her mouth pulled into a small smile. "Oh really!"

Chucks eyes widened slightly, his brows raising. She almost chuckled; he looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

He could sense something potentially embarrassing was coming. "Well...uhh, yah...", he said.

-

Sarah's arm moved in slow motion as it raised the cup to her mouth for a sip. Chuck's adams apple rose and fell as he swallowed hard, entranced by her suddenly sensual movements. He had no idea she looked _so hot_ drinking coffee.

His face turned a slight shade of pink and he seemed suddenly uncomfortable sitting, facing her, but was unwilling to take his eyes off of her.

He knew she noticed. _She always noticed_, he thought. Before he even finished thinking it, he watched as her eyes flicked down to his crotch, paused and flicked up to stare directly into eyes.

He felt uncomfortably hot, in more than one place. He wanted to turn the chair so he was facing towards the table, rather than sitting beside it, but it was positioned that way for practicality. He didn't want to twist his torso any more than he had to.

Sarah was unaware of his internal struggle, or at least it appeared that way when she spoke. "So if I was to do it right now, you wouldn't object?

His eyes rapidly darted in the direction of the door. "Well, ahh...no...but Ellie and Devon...ahhh...coming back...", he mumbled, stumbling through the words.

"Don't worry Chuck, they wouldn't be able to see anything. The couch here blocks everything from your stomach down." Accenting her statement with a brush of her fingers on his abdomen, flicking her hand downwards.

She leaned forward as she spoke pushing his chair until it was exactly parallel to the table on one side and the couch on the other.

"What if someone used the Morg-"

Cutting him off, "I locked the windows while you were in the bathroom", she candidly admits while stepping forward to straddle his legs.

Chucks mouth is open, but the sounds seem to have stuck somewhere in his brain as he stares at the lovely legs straddling his, a hand tentatively touching one of the long silky columns. Her shaky intake of breath forced his brain to restart and his eyes looked into hers.

He was vaguely aware of a flash of red silk, as she had pulled her skirt up to her waist and was moving forward. His lips part automatically to let her tongue slip into his mouth, dancing and teasing, while her hips grind against his pelvis.

It's a moment before Chuck can break his mouth away, his breath coming in short quick spurts to avoid any large chest movements from deep breaths. "Sarah...what are you doing? Didn't the doctor say two weeks?"

"Don't worry Chuck. I don't plan on putting pressure on your _chest_ or doing any full body twists.

His eyes are glassy as his head nods up and down. Her grin is wide as she steps back off of him and in a few quick movements, undoes his belt and yanks his pants and underwear down just below his knees.

"I see someone is standing to greet me." She remarked, her eyebrows high. She sat back on his lap, the heat from him easily penetrating her filmy thin panties.

Chuck gets over the initial shock quite quickly and reaches around her with his left arm to pull her closer to him. Somewhere in his brain it occurs to him that he is holding a cup of coffee in his right hand, with nowhere to set it down; his brain is unwilling to divert enough attention to multitask and pass it behind her back to his other hand to set it on the table.

It isn't long before Chuck is totally focused on sensations from Sarah; the feel of her mouth, hands, body and the rapidly increasing moist heat seeping through her underwear.

Matter of fact, they are so involved, that they fail to hear the key in the front door. Ice water couldn't have shocked Chuck more than Devon's voice. "Way to go Chuck!". Immediately followed by Ellie's, "Devon!".

The forgotten coffee begins its arc through the air, as the chair tips backwards towards the floor with an uncharacteristic "Eeeeeeee" noise from Sarah.

Hitting the floor is less of a problem than the fact that Sarah landed directly on top of his chest. While not exactly on top, since she was straddling him she ended up in a doggy style position on all fours over Chuck. Even so, she had placed slight pressure on his broken ribs, causing his face to whiten in pain, a broken gasp slipping from him.

Ellie, hearing the Chuck's strangled noise, ran to where they had fallen and helped Sarah off of Chuck, before turning to examine his ribs. "Chuck are you ok?"

As any doctor would, she dutifully ignored his current state of undress keeping focused on his tightly clenched teeth and pale face, watching as the pain receded and color flowed back into his cheeks.

He used the lull in pain to pull up his boxers and regain a slight piece of dignity. A moment or two more passed before he gave a thumbs up.

Ellie looked to Devon, "He seems fine."

Devon nodded as if he expected no less. "Atta boy Chuck. Babe, I'm just going to grab the rest of the groceries from the car."

Without looking Ellie waved acknowledgement in Devon's direction then reached down to help Chuck stand. Sarah grabbed his other arm and they pulled him up. Once standing Chuck looked at Sarah, raising an eyebrow while she tentatively touched his chest, guilt reflected in her eyes as she turned her head to look at him. When she noticed his slightly mischievous grin, she gave him a quizzical look. His eyes skimmed down her body, his hand following until he reached her skirt. The same skirt that was still sitting around hips where she had pulled it up some time earlier. An audible intake of air was heard as she realized everyone in the room could see the brand new red silk underwear she bought to wear for Chuck. Before she could react, Chuck had used his roaming hand to tug the skirt down into place.

Sarah's cheeks turned a bright pink as she looked from his hand to his face. His grin reached from ear to ear.

Ellie cleared her throat, startling both of them. Somewhere along the line they had forgotten that Ellie was still in the room with them. Sarah just caught a brief glimpse of Ellie's eyes as they shifted upwards from the vicinity of her skirt to look directly into her eyes. For a moment Sarah could swear it was like looking into Chuck's mischievous eyes seconds earlier.

Ellie pursed her lips slightly and leaned forward towards Sarah. "I prefer the purple ones. Drives Devon insane." She whispered before walking into the kitchen.

Sarah's blush became more pronounced as Chuck's eyebrows raised, "Too much info sis."

"Get over it, Chuck." She replied while unpacking groceries. "Besides, if you don't want people to see, then shouldn't you two be doing that in the bedroom?"

Devon walked back into the apartment carrying more bags of groceries.

Her face still quite pink, Sarah responded, "Actually Ellie, I started it."

Ellie's hand froze and her body tilted to peer at Sarah from around the corner of the kitchen cabinets. She appears confused but her smirk is unmistakable as she asks, "Out here?"

Sarah coughs a little before answering, "Well, your brother is somewhat stubborn about displaying affection in public and I-"

Devon intercedes, "Well I've got to say that that pda was awesome."

The women ignored Devon's comment, while Chuck says nothing as he watches the women talk. His enjoyment of the moment is evident as he lets Sarah explain her actions.

Casting a quick frown at Devon's back Sarah continued, "I thought if he could get used to some of the more risky _intimate_ things, then he might find it easier to handle simple pda's."

A small laugh is heard from Ellie. "Well from the looks of things, I'd say Chuck needs more work on that. Right Chuck?"

Devon stepped out from the kitchen and reached up towards Sarah with a palm out, "Hi-five Sarah". Her lips in a small tight smile, she gives Devon a timid hi-five slap.

Devon's head nodded up in down in encouragement before looking at Chuck. "You've got a wild one all right", he said, winking enthusiastically at Sarah.

Sarah spun to Ellie in an attempt to avoid more of Devon's _awesome _ encouragement, asking "So Ellie, maybe I could give you a hand in the kitchen?"

Ellie smiled warmly, while giving Devon a dirty look, and motioning a 'shoo' with her hands. "Why don't you boys go find something to do while we take of this?" Turning she put her arm around Sarah's shoulders. "Of course you can help. We can squeeze in some girl talk. First things first though; take this cloth."

Sarah took the cloth from Ellie, but obviously had no idea what to do with it. "Sarah? The wet spot?"

She almost choked saying, "Pardon?" Ellie's eyebrows arced as the corners of her eyes and mouth pulled up. In a slight whisper, "The coffee" pointing to the table area. "Its wet."

Chuck had heard the conversation as Devon pulled him towards the front door. It was hard to tell who was more worried as Chuck and Sarah gave each other a sideways glance as they were being pulled away by their respective parties.


	5. Displaced Emotions

_A/N: __**Warning: Language and sexual content**__. A lot of things occur in these next couple of chapters that will not impress Charah fans. You have been warned (insert evil laugh here). No I don't kill anybody...at least I don't think I did. Maybe in the next chapter..._

_I may have some minor edits left, specifically near the end of the chapter, but I will try to check over the post tomorrow. I will remove this line afterwards. _

**Chapter 4**

**Displaced Emotions**

Sarah stood in the bathroom facing the mirror, the comb absently coasting through her hair. Her eyes were slightly glassy and looking somewhere beyond the image the mirror reflected. Her eyes came into focus for a moment, the gaze watching the slight sway of the nightie, as her arm moved. _I bought this for him,_ she thought. Her hand stopped and slowly descended, absently placing the brush on the counter as she turned and walked towards the bed.

The last week had been excruciatingly long for Sarah. She couldn't stop thinking about him and the ache in her chest was constant; a real 'heart burn' as it were. The longer it went on the worse it got. The guilt attached to it was almost overwhelming at times.

She crawled under the covers and rotated the extra pillow to position it at her back before burying herself in the blankets. She rationalized the pillow and blanket placement as a result of being cold at night before continuing her previous train of thought.

She knew it wasn't her fault, but that didn't stop her from blaming herself. After the previous weeks _activities_, Chuck had collapsed with chest pains while out with Devon. A trip to the hospital and as luck would have it, the _same_ doctor that she had made the promise to. The tests showed he was healing well, and the momentary pain brought on by the fall in the dinner area at Ellie's had created no lasting damage for Chuck.

The doctors admonishments, prior to release, were somewhat scathing and Chuck took the brunt of it as he lived with two doctors and apparently should _know_ better. She had been unable to control her emotions as they flared across her face while the doctor spoke to Chuck. She couldn't help but feel for Chuck and she knew he saw it. Chuck had been somewhat argumentative with the doctor until he saw her, then his face become strangely impassive and neutral.

If she hadn't initiated it and simply waited till he was 100 percent, this would never have happened. It was all her doing and she didn't think it was fair that Chuck received any chastising at all. Never in her life had so felt so ashamed for something she had done.

In her line of work she functioned in the absence of feelings, therefore shame was limited to her performance alone, not counting issues of conscience. Her relationship with Chuck was the complete opposite; functioning in the complete immersion of feelings.

By the time he was ready to head home, she felt so bad that she said goodnight and left for her hotel room thinking the next morning would lighten her view of the situation

Unfortunately the next morning came all too soon and things were not better. In fact, she felt even worse about the situation. She just couldn't bring herself to face him. A little voice whispered that her fears were totally unfounded, but having little experience in real relationships did not bode well for trusting the voice.

The longer she stayed away from Chuck, the quieter the little voice became and the larger the fear got. It kept escalating every day since then and now it was a week to the day since she had seen him. Oh, he had called. In true Chuck 'stalker' fashion, he had called a lot. She just never picked up the phone for fear that he would say the things she didn't want to hear or know how to answer. She only spoke to him near bed time when she could limit the length and direction of the conversation, a skill she frequently used as an agent.

With Chuck laid up there was no missions and that eliminated that avenue of access before it got out of the gate. She had been back at work for a while, but his first day back at the Buy More was Monday, tomorrow. Light duties only the doctor had stated.

She didn't know what to do. She was no further ahead than a week ago. What had started out so well had quickly turned into what had to have been Chuck's most embarrassing moment ever. She wasn't exactly sure if that's what he thought because she just couldn't bring herself to ask. She was always better at getting him to open up; helping him explore his feelings, but now his feelings inevitably involved her. If she asks him, then he asks her and that's where things would fall apart. She didn't know what to say so she fell back into her old habits and purposely avoided the whole conversation and that meant avoiding him.

Now that he saw how poorly she handled relationships, maybe he would finally take the action she had deep down expected him to take. She wouldn't blame him if he had reconsidered being together...

She let the thought hang and her chest ached a little more than before.

--o--

"Chuck?" Ellie called.

Slumped in the easy chair, his thumb passed across the iPhone's screen once more and another picture of Sarah slid onto the display. "Hmm?"

"Chuck, what are you doing?"

Not looking up his thumb continued to slip across the screen, left to right. "Nothing."

"I can see that Chuck. Did you and Sarah have a fight? You two have barely spoken since last weekend."

"Oh, you noticed that too?" He said, his voice thick with sarcasm. "And I thought it was just me."

"So? What happened? You two were going pretty hot and heavy. What's going on?"

"I wish I knew, Ellie, I wish I knew. She's avoided me ever since the doctor at the hospital reamed her out for what _we_ did. Still dont know why he was so hard on her. Its not like she did anything wrong and it was my fault I got hurt."

She sighed. "He was just doing his job Chuck. Besides, he gave you just as much heck as he did her."

"Pffft, come on Ellie, like I got it half as bad as she did. He really ripped into her about how she can't keep her word or control her actions." He exhaled, letting the air blow out of his mouth loudly. "It doesn't matter anyway I guess since she obviously doesn't want to see me."

"Did you try talking to her?"

"I tried that. She doesn't take my calls."

"I don't understand Chuck. I've heard you talk to her at least a couple of times to say goodnight."

"That's just it; it's only to _say goodnight. _ When she phones she just avoids talking about anything else and has to get off the phone to take care of one thing or another." Another picture passed on the iPhone screen. "It's been that way since the hospital..." He let the words hang.

Ellie sat on the couch facing the chair. "Ok, I must have missed something because she was fine when you left with Devon. I talked to her for a while and she really seemed to open up, which was good, because she's always been so closed off about your relationship. I didn't get any hint of anything being wrong."

He looked up at Ellie, his face emotionless, his tone bland. "All I know is that she said goodnight when we left the hospital to come home and when I called her it went to voice mail. The next day I could only reach her by phone, since I'm not _allowed_ out of the house, it has made it a little difficult to just drop in." He left out the fact that Casey had told him if he does anything stupid like leaving the house without at least Sarah's supervision, he would personally sacrifice his own shoe by shoving it up his Chuck's ass with one swift kick.

His shoulders rose and fell in sullen shrug. "If I didn't know any better I would think she's embara...". He stopped talking,

"Chuck?" Her voice taking on that motherly tone he knows all too well. "Embarrassed? What would Sarah be embarrassed about? Surely not last weekend, you were the one with the pants down."

"That's just it Ellie. Stuff like that happens to me all the time. Ok, maybe not the pants around the ankles, but similar stuff. Maybe that the pants and brow beating doctor was last straw, maybe she's embarrassed and fed up to be _with me._"

She placed a hand on his arm. "I'm sure it will work itself out. Don't give up just yet." She smiled while her mind worked on how she could help him with this. Something had to be done, she just had no idea what.

Chuck was glad that he had a sister like Ellie but he regretted that he couldn't even open up to her anymore. He purposely left his role as part of Team Chuck out of the discussion for obvious reasons. Even on that topic he was waiting to see what Sarah would do. His gut was telling him she would be in "all agent" mode. The thought did little to ease the heartache of getting dumped.

--o--

Casey had everything exactly like he wanted it. The tuna tasted delicious. He had foregone the scotch for a bottle of filtered water to stay sharp. He had given himself a green light on his mission and he was packed and ready to roll.

His eyes scanned the white board. Every point he had listed last weekend had a check mark beside it.

Walker was working a full shift on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, while Chuck was back at work on Monday. He already had everything arranged to pull Chuck from work and make a visit to the CIA training centre. Tuesday was the target day. Wednesday would serve as a backup.

He would have to wing the tests a bit, but he had checked the schedules and he knew when the slow times were. He had also figured out how to make sure they weren't using the cameras. It wasn't 100 fool proof, but the chance of success was sufficiently high enough to warrant the attempt.

His fork clinked on the empty can. He sighed. Time to get to work.

Not that it really was _work_ anymore. Tonight he had to scour the surveillance tapes from Bartowski's house. With the lack of actual missions, he spread his time between working at the Buy More, looking for clues on the Doctor or hammering out the details of his own operation.

Now that Walker was keeping a _closer_ eye on Chuck, he had promised to step back a bit. He still reviewed the surveillance feeds, he just did them in a lump, rather than every night. No sense in him gagging over listening to them every night. Better to do it all at once and only feel sick to his stomach one out of seven days. Besides the software did most of the work by shifting to a normal playback speed only when a noise was detected or the video feed picked up movement.

His mouth tightened, his noise wrinkled up. Might as well get this over with. Reaching for the headset he realized that maybe he _should_ have swapped the water for scotch; at least on days when he had to listen to the Bartowski/Walker drivel.

He slipped on the headphones and tapped play settling back into his easy chair.

--o—

Mary was in an extremely good mood. Today was going to be the day. She had enough medical background to see the signs. He had started noticing things were a little _off _but she had been quick to dismiss any concerns he had. After all, the man wasn't stupid, he just thought more with his dick than his brain and this was one time that she wholeheartedly encouraged it every chance she got.

Turning on the whirlpool, she stepped in. She needed some downtime while the other staff took over. The alcohol was flowing freely and he wasn't even hiding the fact that he was taking the enhancement drugs. It was pretty hard to hide anyway. Not with that many women working him over continuously for that long.

Sooner or later his heart would go. She was banking on the former, rather than the latter. The drug was flowing a little too freely and it was obvious that he wasn't aware of how much he had actually imbibed. If he had known, he would have been more than a little worried.

She set the alarm for 30 mins and slipped into the water to relax. She didn't have much time. She didn't want to leave the other staff with him for too long. She needed to be there when he passed. The more witnesses the better.

As for the drugs, they were pretty much untraceable by conventional law enforcement and agencies like the Office would easily track the drugs directly from their facility to the Doctor. There was absolutely no connection to her at all, as he was using them long before she arrived. His increase in dosage simply matched the environment he created with his staff and the request of her company. No one would even think to question her organized control over the staff, nor would they connect that to his death. She would be free and clear of any repercussions.

After all, massive heart attacks are a bitch and it's pretty hard to place blame for getting fucked to death.

--o--

Casey pulled the cigar box from the closet. They were part of his private stash. Only used in emergencies, extremely special occasions and to help calm him down in times of high stress. He lifted one to his nose, breathing deep as he slid it from left to right. He had appropriated them from a successful mission in Cuba some years back.

Moments later the lazy circles of smoke floated upwards and away; his frown slowly evening out as he relaxed.

_Walker, what am I going to do with you?_, he thought.

He had listened to the surveillance footage. He wasn't impressed. After that incident last weekend, she freaked out and wasn't talking to Chuck. Over hearing the conversation between Ellie and Chuck it was obvious he had taken it to mean that he was effectively getting dumped. Chuck did have a tendency to over react on some things, but as far as Casey could tell, Walker was actively avoiding the poor guy. Considering what they went through in the last few weeks, it wasn't hard to see why her reluctance to see or talk to him had Chuck freaking out. Figuring out why she was intentionally avoiding him was another matter altogether.

He wasn't very happy about that. He went to a fair amount of effort to get them on the right track so that he could count on them as a team. _Never thought I would be thinking that. _Now Walker was shooting him in the foot by her bumbling on the relationship.

Now he understood why she made the call to him earlier in the week about keeping an eye on Chuck. Of course that doesnt even begin to address the ramifications that she neglected to volunteer that she wasn't with Chuck. Hell, she didn't even bother to mention that there was a problem. And civilians wonder _why_ agents arent allowed to get emotionally involved. His mouth tightened into a fine line as his head shook from side to side, unconsciously mimicking his thoughts on the subject.

From a team perspective, two thirds of the team was misfiring. One was ignoring her duties for God knows why, and the other was just returning from injury but saddled with massive emotional instabilities. He had no doubt that Chuck was depressed. Based on Chuck's past reactions to girlfriends dumping him, this was not a good thing.

The situation needed to be corrected quickly. Only problem was he couldn't really do anything about it until after he took Chuck in for testing, otherwise she would be on Chuck like shit to a shoe for the next couple of weeks in a make-up phase.

He sucked in another long drag from the cigar and exhaled. Of course that could be an ace in the hole for getting out of trouble if she didn't buy into the whole 'pulling records' cover he was using to get Chuck tested. He just didn't know if he could wait that long; if _they_ could wait that long. If something was to happen right now that needed the entire team, they were screwed.

His lips curled around the cigar and he inhaled deeply, blowing smoke rings as he exhaled. As he watched, one of the smaller rings floated through a larger one. Both rings faded and dispersed shortly after. A sudden flash of insight hit him. Maybe, just maybe, he had a way to deal with Walkers inept relationship abilities once and for all. With a little luck, it might even be a long term solution. An uncharacteristically large grin appeared on his face as he grabbed his cell phone. A call might be too obvious, but a text message would be a better idea. A couple of key punches and within moments he was typing. He hit the send button when done, setting the phone down before picking up his cigar again.

Attacking from both flanks was always better than a simple frontal assault.

**--o—**

In less than 3 hours she had the home situation under control and was already enroute to her next private mission in Los Angeles. Anticipating his death was close at hand, she had begun preparing days in advance for her rendezvous in L.A.. The first thing she had done was to go for a cut and die job a few days earlier. She had decided was that something more permanent than a wig would be needed. The Doctor had automatically assumed it was for a little variety. She gave a very un-lady like snort. Like he needed variety in women. He had been so blinded by his own arrogance and ego that it never occurred to him that she might have done it for someone else.

No matter. It was done. All the necessary reports had been given and the staff were done cleaning up. After the reports and statements were taken and reviewed the accountants would be able to shift the rest of his assets to her name. Now that he was out of the way she could focus on the next phase of her life.

An overnight bag sat on the seat next to her. She didn't need to check it. She had memorized the contents and confirmed them prior to boarding the helicopter. Five days of clothes, money, miscellaneous infiltration devices and of course the drugs. One set of pink vials for her, the blue set for him; enough to easily get through the next few days.

The conception program had calculated a 94 success rate with only 3 nights work and both drugs active. Anything more than 3 nights gave a negligible return but did increase the risk substantially from a logistical standpoint as well as from a medical one; at least in regards to the compound she would be administering to him.

She could have pursued a less invasive and risky method of obtaining what she needed, but that wasn't her. The sterility of a lab and contraception felt alien. Capture and injection methods sometimes left unfavourable results. Besides, she was comfortable with sex and the fertility drug favoured natural conception and timing.

The tip of her tongue slipped out to unconsciously moisten her lips. She hadn't had this much fun in years. She felt positively giddy with excitement. This time around he would be active and awake, albeit in the dark and easily suggestible. Almost like a form of hypnosis. Unlike the compound the Doctor had been using, this one replaced one of the key ingredients with a specialized narcotic. As this was only a short term op, three days was not a sufficient length of time for him to become addicted nor would it pass through any fluids. Although he might suffer some other minor drug related side effects, she saw no imminent danger to him in his current environment.

He did live with his sister. How much danger was there in that? It was like living in your mom's basement. His girlfriend didn't even live with him. That was a little strange, she thought. Even for an agent. Why live in a hotel room instead of with him? Far be it for her to judge. It just meant that she would have clear unobstructed access.

_--o—_

He was tired. Looking at his watch it glared back with a dull 8:32. _God it feels like 2am._ He was so tired. He hated being depressed. He spent most of the last five years that way. He just couldn't pull himself out of it. He had spent the better part of the day looking at the pictures. Morgan had called again; he sensed something was amiss. Chuck brushed him off.

Sarah had phoned. He hadn't bothered to pick up this time. She kept phoning earlier and earlier. He figured that she didn't want to talk to him so close to bedtime. Who knows, she might have _other _plans.

He pushed the away the fact that he was going to bed earlier and earlier. He was just too exhausted to stay up.

Having nothing better to do, he grabbed his PJ's and headed for the shower. Maybe he could be in bed by 8:45 tonight. Needed all the energy he could get for work tomorrow.

And just when he thought he couldn't get any more depressed he realized Sarah would likely be at work tomorrow too. He would've given anything to see her, but his little voice was already whispering. _If she wanted to see your embarrassing ass, she would have been over here every day this week._

He turned the water on and climbed in. The heat was almost unbearable. He welcomed it, as it made him drowsy and sleep seemed to be the only escape from his thoughts.

--o—

The dusky sky blanketed the courtyard in shadows as she walked quietly across it. She moved to the door quickly, discreetly looking to see if anyone was watching. She kept special attention to Chuck's window as he had a tendency to look out at random times, partly due to the fact he had unexpected visitors climbing in his window at all times of the day. She was glad his light was out, so it was likely he was already asleep.

Reaching her destination she knocked quietly. She wasn't surprised when the door opened almost before her hand left the door.

She smiled but said nothing. He placed a hand behind her back as he wordlessly ushered her into his apartment. His eyes darted to the various areas from which someone might discreetly watch from. Seeing no one, he quietly closed the door and locked it.

She had already turned to face him as he rotated away from the door.

"Ok, I'm here. I have a bit of time. Devon's in the shower and it takes him forever. Sometimes I swear he is worse than a woman. So what's up?" She asked, her head slightly tilted to the side.

"I think we have a mutual problem that you can help me with." John said with a grin.

--

She waited until the prearranged time before climbing out of bed. The door closed gently behind her without so much as click. Moving to the door across the hall, she placed an ear against it. A very soft snore could be heard, but otherwise no indication that anyone was awake. She cautiously backed away from the door, taking care to make no noise. Spinning on the ball of her foot she proceeded up the hall, picking up the cordless phone off the counter as she passed it. She scrolled through the caller ID until she found what she was looking for and pressed the 'Talk' button.

Moving silently to the far side of the room, she waited while the phone on the other end rang.

"Sarah? It's Ellie. Sorry to bother you this late, but I need to talk to you." ...

"No, everything is not ok. No, Chuck's not hurt." ...

"Listen, I have a double shift tomorrow, but would you mind if I came by right afterwards. It will be kind of late, but it's important." ...

"Great." ...

"And Sarah?" ...

"Can we keep this between us girls please? I don't want Devon or Chuck to know." ...

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

She pressed the 'End' button replacing the phone where she had got it before re-entering the bedroom with the same amount of stealth as she had left it, closing the door quietly behind her. A quick glance at the bed showed Devon had not moved.

She slipped into bed and curled up to his back. She was thankful that some things her mother had taught her had stuck.

Her last thoughts were of the long day ahead of her, her eyes rapidly closing as she began to drift off. The last images her eyes saw were the bright blue 11:37pm on the alarm clock.

--o--

She looked around the room. Neat in a geeky kind of way. Almost a side effect of his charm. It somehow made him more _real_ than the men she had known, and she had known more than a few.

She moved to his bedside, pulling a small spray bottle, similar in size to a portable mouth freshener. Pointing it at his noise she pumped it twice. His nose wrinkled a bit, as his head started to lift off the pillow, when it suddenly dropped back down, his mouth falling slack. The spray was only active for a few minutes.

Working fast she pulled out the syringe and yanked back the blanket. Rolling him forward to his side, she slipped her hand down the back of his PJ's until the cheek was exposed. He didn't flinch when the needle entered.

She left him to take care of the room. She had easily bypassed the alarm's on the window and surrounding areas. Her devices had indicated several listening and video feed surveillance units on a short wave frequency. Using her lowest power device she set it on jam, effectively blocking all feeds inside the bedroom. She secured the window with her own anti-intrusion lock and closed the blinds, effectively darkening the room to near black. She secured the bedroom door with similar locks, one at the ceiling and one at the floor.

Satisfied with the lockdown she pulled one last item from her coat pocket before dropping her coat to the floor and stepping out of her shoes. She quickly slipped him out of his clothes as he started to rouse. Disorientation was normal for the first few moments and she needed to capitalize on that.

Climbing into bed next to him she leaned in to his right ear, holding the small tool with her, she pressed the button.

"Chuck. Chuck can you hear me?" Sarah' voice emanated from the small unit. Mary pressed the button to stop the device.

"Sarah?" came the feeble reply.

Mary ran her fingers through his hair, her nails lightly skimming his scalp, before pressing play. "I'm right here Chuck. Right here...for you, but we have to be quiet. Can you do that for me Chuck?" Again she stopped it. She leaned in and gentle brushed his lips with hers, teasing with her tongue as she slowly pulled away. She felt him shift on the bed as he freed his arm and brought it to the back of her head. This time when she leaned down to kiss him, his hand followed and held her. When they broke for air, he called once more, this time it was thick with emotion. "Sarah."

She let her weight rest against his bare chest, smiling in the dark as his hands began their exploration of her body.

--o—

Sarah awoke with a start. She let her senses adjust to her apartment. Something was wrong. The clock on the wall said 1:17am. She'd only been asleep for a little over an hour. She slid out of bed, moving carefully around the apartment.

Once she was sure there was no one else in the room, she flicked on the light. She had a nagging feeling she couldn't quite shake. She ran a hand over her eyes and tucked an errant hair behind her ear. She couldn't help feeling that it had something to do with Chuck.

She didn't think it had anything to do with Ellie's phone call earlier. She had asked to stop by tomorrow and she couldn't find an adequate reason to say no. It's not that she didn't want to see her but she knew that Ellie would ask about her and Chuck. She exhaled. Maybe it was a good thing Ellie was stopping by. Things were obviously getting out of hand to the point it was waking her up in the middle of the night.

She turned out the light and crawled back into bed. An intense feeling of loneliness swept over her as she lay in the large bed. Sleep came slowly.

--o—

The hotel room was luxurious, easily matching the former Doctor's opulent mansion. She failed to notice any of it. She walked straight to the Jacuzzi and ran the water. She simply stood watching it fill.

She felt very _odd._ She didn't know how to describe it. It couldn't be a side effect of the fertility drug she took, or could it? She brushed off the thought as quickly as it appeared. Their testing had been extensive. It would have been listed.

Her mind wandered back to less than hour earlier. It wasn't the best sex she had, but it was definitely fulfilling in its own right. Even drugged as he was, he had some kind of...quality about him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but whatever it was turned her on immensely. After his initial sense of urgency, he had settled into a more relaxed mode, taking her with him to some very high points.

Something wet sprinkled on her feet. Looking down in amazement she dove for the taps. The tub was at the brim with the first drops flowing over the edge onto her feet.

With the water off, she looked at her wet feet. She had been lost in thought. Over sex, of all things. It was like eating or brushing your teeth. It was just something you did, without thinking, yet here she stands, her wet feet incontrovertible evidence otherwise.

Leaning over she pulled the plug to let the water drain. Maybe it was best to stick to showers for now.

Whatever he was doing to her, she was definitely going to enjoy the next couple of days.

--o--

"Chuck! Buddie!"

"Morgan?" came the sleepy reply.

"Yah man. You slept in your going to be late for your first day back at work"

"What are you doing here?

"I tried you on your phone and you didn't answer. Come on buddy let ole' Morgan be your loyal Samwise Gamgee today." Morgan pulled the blanket back. "Dude you look like you had a rough night."

Chuck swung his legs over the side of the bed and looked down at his bare midriff. He didn't remember taking off his shirt. "I must've been pretty hot last night."

"I don't know what you were doing, but hot only covers part of it. Your bed is pretty messed. Nightmares, Ringwraiths or something? You alright?" Without waiting for Chuck to answer, Morgan started on a solution. "You know what, maybe I'll call Big Mike and tell him your still out of commission. You know, laid up from a Morgul blade."

"Morgan" he said through clenched teeth. "I'm going to work. Now be a nice Samwise and help me to the bathroom, I'm feeling a little lightheaded is all."

"Anything for you sir." Morgan said, straightening up a little taller before pulling Chuck off the bed and slipping under his arm as support.

Wrinking his nose, and turning his head in the direction away from Chuck, "Aww, yah, Master Chuck? Maybe it's a good thing you're heading for the shower 'cause I think you need one. Maybe you should keep the covers off tonight."

Chuck said nothing as he focused on putting one foot in front of the other on his way to the bathroom.

A quick shower and few bites of food and they were out the door. By the time they got to work Chuck was feeling much more energetic and upbeat, if not entirely well groomed.

Ten feet into the store they heard the call.

"Bartowski! Grimes! About damn time. Front and center." So much for arriving unnoticed by Big Mike. They made the effort to put a bit of speed in their step arriving in front of Big Mike in short order.

"Bartowski, you forget what time work starts?

"Sorry Big Mike, I –"

He didn't bother to let Chuck finish. "And Grimes, what's your excuse?

"I was just helping Ch-"

"You know what, forget I even asked. Your just gonna cover Chuck's ass anyway." He looked back at Chuck. "Bartowski since you've been gone the place has gone to hell. It's so bad that Grimes here is on his way to being my second best employee.

"Wait. Second best! I thought I was number one!"

"Get your head out of your butt Grimes. John Casey gets more done in ½ a day than you do in a week."

Chuck looked at his friend. "Morgan, you had to ask?"

"Hey aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

"Will you two cut the chatter. Chuck you're in the cage until further notice. I'm supposed to keep you on light duty so fixing computers is where it's at. Besides, we're about a month behind." Big Mike stopped talking and looked at him expectantly.

"Well? You forget where it is? Move it."

"Yes sir." Chuck said, as he headed to the back of the store.

Looking back at Grimes Big Mike pointed an overly large finger. "You, get to work. I don't care what it is, just find something work related to do and do it. If you need me, find Chuck instead. I'm in my office with my door locked." With that Big Mike spun quickly for a man his weight and headed in the direction of his office, grumbling under his breath as he walked.

Under normal circumstances Chuck wouldn't be too thrilled about being assigned to the cage but he didn't really feel like talking to customers. He only wanted to sit in solitude. At least working on computers kept his mind focused.

Now that he was ready to work, he found himself oddly relaxed. Like he didn't have a care in the world. His hands found the tools by themselves and he settled in on the first work order.

--o—

The morning had been slow at the Weinerlicious, but lunch was quickly approaching and she anxiously awaited Chuck's arrival. No matter how he felt, he always stopped in at lunch.

She shifted her weight back and forth between her feet, like a dancer running through the moves in her head. It was important that he stops by. If he didn't come, then it would imply that her worst fears had been confirmed.

A momentary flash of pulling the petals off a flower appeared in her mind, along with the words '_He loves me.' _Off comes a petal._ 'He loves me not.' _Off comes another petal.

She brushed away the nonsensical thoughts, her eyes snapping to the clock as it counted down to noon.

--

Bartowski!

Yah big Mike. I need you for a mission.

What...kind of mission?"

I need you to head over to the Large Mart and pick up this list of supplies and drop it off at this address. Think you can handle that?

"Yah. It shouldn't be a problem but it's almost the end of my shift and I wanted to see Sarah. I worked through lunch in the cage. I guess I lost track of time and-

"Chuck! You can see your girlfriend anytime. She's not paying your bills. I am. Not get your skinny ass cracking."

His earlier energy had long since left him and he was much too exhausted to argue with him. "I'm on it Big Mike."

On his way out of the store Chuck thought about phoning Sarah and letting her know, but with the way she had been avoiding his calls all week, he thought better of it. He didn't know why he was so conflicted. Today he felt closer to her than ever, yet distant at the same time. It must be the change; back at work and such he thought, as he headed out the door. He spared a wistful glance towards the Weinerlicious before jumping in the Herder and driving off.

--o--

There had been a long lunch rush and it had kept Sarah busier than normal. By the time they had cleared out it was almost 3 o'clock. She had reached for her phone but thought better of it. She would rather talk to him in person. She waited till she was off work before making a quick jog over to the Buy More.

As always Morgan saw her the moment she walked in. "Sarah!"

"Hey Morgan, have you seen Chuck?"

"Actually yah, he left about two hours ago."

"I thought his shift ended about now."

"It did, but I guess he had some errands to do."

"Ok, thanks Morgan." She turned and left, dialling her phone as she walked to the car. She would take the chance on him by phone. Besides, she felt more capable during the daylight with people around. "Hi you've reached Chuck, leave..." She didn't wait for it to finish. She hung up and used the speed dial again. This time she got a live person. Well, as live as Casey could be considered.

"Casey have you seen Chuck? I tried calling him and there was no answer." ...

"What do you mean he's already home? Morgan said he was doing errands." ...

"It's ok, I'll stop by and-" ...

"What does it matter if he's sleeping, I'm his girlfriend for Christ's sake." ...

"Is he sick?" ...

"Tired from what?" ...

"Fine but keep an eye on him. I'll be more than a little pissed if he ends up with pneumonia. Walker out."

Casey was holding something back, but she didn't pursue it. She hadn't exactly been following protocol with Chuck or been doing well from a relationship point of view and there was a saying about throwing stones in a glass house.

The pit of her stomach felt like it was carrying rocks again.

--o—

Casey hung up his phone. He dodged the bullet this time. He hadn't exactly lied to Walker. He wasn't sure why Chuck was so tired, but he didn't want Walker over and making up with him before his training evaluation op tomorrow. Besides, he already had put contingency plans in motion to correct her bungling. They just needed to play out.

--o—

Ellie stopped to lean against the door jamb for a moment. She closed her eyes for what felt like just a second when the door opened, startling her.

A tired looking Sarah opened the door. "Ellie? Are you all right." Sarah said, her voice filled with concern.

"Hi Sarah. Sorry about that. I'm just really tired. How did you know it was me at the door? I didn't even get a chance to knock."

Sarah covered quickly, "Oh I thought I heard someone in the hall and was just coming to check. Come on in. You look as tired as I feel. I don't have much to offer in the way of something to drink but-"

"It's ok Sarah. I'm pretty beat after my double and I need to get this taken care of."

Ellie was too tired so notice Sarah's face pale slightly. "What is it?"

Ellie pursed her lips and looked directly at Sarah. "You."

Sarah cocked her head to the side, as if tilting her head would allow her to hear better. "What are you talking about?"

"Sarah, what's going on with you and Chuck?" Ellie tensed waiting for the inevitable confrontation. Instead of the replay of the hospital argument a few weeks earlier she received no response. The little energy Sarah had seemed to deplete before Ellie's eyes; Sarah's shoulders slumped, she turned and sat on the edge of the bed, her face pointing down. She said nothing.

After a moment passed she hears a faint sniff from Sarah. Ellie's eyebrows pulled together as she sat on the bed beside Sarah. "Sarah?"

She spoke quietly and to the floor. "Does he hate me?"

The statement floored and alarmed her at the same time. _Was there something Chuck hadn't told her about Sarah's actions?_ "Sarah, Chuck could never hate you. He's madly in love with you. Now are you going to tell me what's going on or am I going to have to drag it out of you." She emphasised the teasing tone by placing her hand on Sarah's giving it a gentle squeeze.

Sarah's free hand picked at an imaginary thread on her jeans. While her face gave the impression that she was looking at the thread, Ellie knew her mind was miles away.

"I've was just trying to get Chuck to loosen up. You know how terrible he is at pda's. When it backfired I sort of expected things to be ok. After a little while I realized that maybe they weren't. I wasn't the one caught with my pants down, Chuck was. Then he got a healthy dose of scolding from the doctor, while he pretty much left me off the hook."

"Sarah, look at me." It took a moment but she raised her red eyes to do as asked. "This isn't the first time Chuck's been embarrassed and it won't be the last. I also should remind you that while his pants were down, your skirt was up with very little material to hold a pattern let alone keep things covered.

"But Ellie, it wasn't just anybody that embarrassed him, it was _me._"

"What does that have to do with anything? I won't even get into the time I tried to convince him that those really were chocolate logs in the toilet." Sarah's eyes went wide, her mouth forming an 'O'.

The corners of Ellie's mouth turned upwards while her face reddened. "He pissed me off and I was only 6, but that's not important right now. What's important is that you really need to get a handle on communicating with Chuck. Do you know what Chuck thinks of this situation?"

"You talked to him?"

"Sarah, I'm his sister. I've been looking out for him for years. Of course I talked to him and right now he is sitting at home thinking you dumped him. He's convinced that your stringing him along just like Jill did when she couldn't find a good way to say 'get lost'.

Ellie watched the internal struggle behind her red rimmed eyes. _How does a woman as smart and independent as her become so stupid? _That's when it stuck Ellie. _Oh my god, she's like a broken version of Chuck when it comes to relationships. I wonder what happened in her past to make her like that. _Ellie couldn't help but lean over and give her a warm hug. "You know you really need to come talk to me more often. It would save everyone some heartache."

Sarah returned the hug tightly. Ellie was her first friend in a long time and it was a experience she wanted to hang onto. "Thank you."

When Ellie didn't respond Sarah called. "Ellie?" Again it was quite. Sarah leaned her head back and away to look at Ellie. Her eyes were closed! She had fallen asleep. She grasped her shoulder and shook her gently. "Ellie?"

Ellie started awake. "Oh god, Sarah I am so sorry. I'm so terrible. Here I am falling asleep on you in your time of need."

"It's ok. Really. I appreciate you coming to talk to me."

Releasing Sarah, she stood. "Anytime. Now I have to get home before I fall asleep on the road, and if I'm not mistaken you have a call to make."

"Are you sure you're ok to drive Ellie? If you don't mind sharing the bed you could stay here."

"Thank you, but I'm good" she said as she backed up, turning and promptly walking into the dividing wall leading to the door."

"Ellie!" She jumped off the bed to help her up. "Are you alright?"

Her face somewhat sheepish, she looked at Sarah as she was helped up. "Which side of the bed is mine?"

A borrowed t-shirt and a quick call to Devon telling him she was too tired to come home from work and would catch a nap there.

Sarah caught the lie. Ellie shrugged. "I don't want the boys to know I was talking to you. Sometimes it's better if they don't know how often we talk." An unusual smirk slipped on her face.

She purposely looked at the iPhone sitting in Sarah's hand.

Sarah followed her gaze but stayed quiet.

"Why don't you give Chuck a call. I'm going to slip into the bathroom for a moment." Giving Sarah some time alone.

Sarah was already dialing before the door closed.

"Chuck?" ...

"I know it's late. I just wanted you to know that I love you. You know that right?" ...

"I promise I'll talk to you tomorrow. In person. Ok?" ...

"And Chuck...get some sleep. You sound terrible." She said, keeping her voice light as she teased him.

Suddenly her view on things looked much more positive than before.

--o--


	6. Wargames Part 1

_A/N: In Chapter 7 - For the non-technical/geeks, I will be using layman's terms to discuss the one of the more common programming languages used over the last decade or so. It is called 'C'. Yes, as in the letter. Subsequent major revisions/extensions are referred to as 'C+', then 'C+', and lately 'C#'. Original, I know. lol. Anyway the code is usually verbally spoken as C, C plus, C plus plus or C sharp. I will use any of the displayed connotations to refer to the programming code._

_Initially Chapter 5: Wargames was written as one piece. Ultimately, I had to break it down into 4 sections to keep it to a readable size. While I have no problem reading 3, 5, 8 or 13 thousand word chapters, I realize that others might have small attention spans and find a lot of words overwhelming. coughteenagerscough (Yah, I realize there are young writers here too, but there's more readers than writers.)_

_As a result I have chopped the Wargames chapter into 4 pieces and will post a new piece each night with each one weighing in at the 3600 word mark. This should also help keep the flow a little more even as I move into the chapters after this multipart piece. This is especially important as I had already subdivided the following chapter once to drop it back into the 3k realm._

_Btw, I will be referring to events in the first story (Chuck vs The Doctor) so I'm assuming you remember it. If not dig through the board to find it._

**Chapter 5**

**Wargames – Part 1**

The morning sun was already casting its orange glow on the city behind her as she spoke. "You heard about the Doctor?"

Director Graham nodded from the chair opposite General Beckman. "The Office sent a memo with the compound this morning."

"Do you think it's related to the auction?"

He looked over his coffee. "Are we sharing intel on this now, because youll have to excuse me if I feel a little reluctant to give up anything to you." He glanced over his right shoulder, towards the currently closed office door. The small dent still visible in the soft wood.

General Beckman's eyes hardened momentarily, but her tone was light. "I don't see why not. We co-operated on the auction and the product is in our possession."

He sipped the hot coffee. "Be that as it may, I uncovered information that indicates you had an ulterior motive above and beyond the scope our joint approval allowing the Doctor to use our team to test the compound."

She mimicked his position, raising her cup in front of her face with both hands while placing her elbows on the desk in front of her. "The same could be said of you", she said from behind the cup.

Having failed to answer his question he ignored her attempt at gathering information and continued with their original topic. "The Office believes that his death was entirely unrelated to any of his work, past or present."

"Are you willing to take that chance? For that matter, it's possible that the _extra_ work he obviously performed finally caught up to him. Maybe the Office was the one to correct the problem. It's been known for agencies to take care of their own problems." Her voice had taken on a parental tone, one usually used for explaining things to children.

"I'm aware of how agencies work." He snapped.

"Good. Then you must be _aware_ that I had the Doctor verify whether or not your agent was compromised."

If Graham knew he made no outward show of concern. He did casually raise an eyebrow before responding. "And the findings?"

She paused to determine if any further reactions might slip. When none did she replied a little harsher than she had intending, belying her feelings on the topic. "As far as the report was concerned she is providing a perfect cover. Nothing more, nothing less."

"And you needed the extra cloak and dagger to figure that out?" He set the cup on the desk.

"You know as well as I that in this business we do what is necessary."

"I'm not so sure we are on the same wavelength when it comes to _necessary_. I'm aware of your pending instructions to Major Casey and I dont find them _necessary _in the least bit."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cut the crap", he snarled. "Did you think you could hide that?"

She leaned forward and snarled right back. "Oh grow up and face facts. He's a multi-billion dollar asset guarded by two agents that are likely well on their way to being compromised and I'm betting yours falls first. I don't know how much longer she can hold off; she's been making doe eyes at him for ages. If it takes killing Chuck and your CIA agent, then so be it. At least the new Intersect computer will be back under our control rather than wandering the streets like a lost puppy."

"You forget yourself. The Intersect project was originally the CIA's first. If anyone is going to make decisions on the welfare of this asset it will be _us._" His tone made it clear that there was no room for the NSA in 'us'.

He stood, setting the cup on the desk. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've had enough of our collaboration for today."

She watched him leave, her expression flat. Once he was out the door her mouth turned upwards in a seldom seen smile while she spun her chair to look out over the city while sipping at her coffee. _Now who's laughing. _

--o--

Mary climbed into her hotel bed after a quick shower; the blankets cool and soft against her skin. She was physically exhausted yet extremely alert at the same time. Running over the steps she had used to enter and exit Chuck's room, everything had gone almost exactly as the night before with one exception. She had taken more time with him than yesterday but was still in and out within her safe time limits.

Not one to accept less than perfection on a mission, she replayed all the events in the bed as well. She knew why she had stayed, the questions was how had things changed from the previous night. Somehow the sex had gotten better, and not just by a little bit.

The first night sneaking into Chuck's room, she had evaluated him as average, especially considering the condition the drugs put him in. He had shown a lot of enthusiasm and was equally tender and gentle, but it was nothing special or spectacular. If anything, the overall sexual encounter was simply lower than it could be simply because she restricted foreplay and similar actions to ensure the majority of the intercourse was through penetration. She was, after all, there to collect his seed for the purposes of impregnation. It only made logical sense that repeated encounters night after night of the same type would rate about the same or slightly less entertaining from lack of variation or variety. So why was it the complete opposite of what she expected?

This morning she he had done much of the same things from the previous morning, but it just... _felt_ much better. _No, not better, more fulfilling,_ she thought as she corrected herself. She couldn't figure out why, let alone explain it if asked; not that she would ever be.

Either way it still confused her. After all, it's not like she was a virgin or new to sex. On the contrary, Mary had made a point of treating sex like breathing. You did it to survive and she did a _lot _of surviving. More than she cared to remember, even if she wanted to.

Then there were the _other feelings_ that she couldn't quite put her finger on; always just out of reach. Like the proverbial word that's 'sits' on the tip of your tongue but you can never quite remember what it was. A sudden tingling spread over her body triggering a wave of Goosebumps to dance across her skin. Looking down she realized her finger nails were spinning lazy circles on her tummy and chest as she contemplated her earlier actions.

Forcing her hands to stop their ministration, she turned out the light and settled into bed, but sleep took its sweet time in arriving, leaving her to review the night's events over and over looking for the answers. The sun was well into its upward arc before she slipped into the darkness of slumber. The answers she sought remaining as elusive as the questions she failed to ask.

--o--

At 7:00 am the radio on Sarah's new alarm clock began to play; its volume starting very low. As it slowly climbed to the pre-set level Sarah breathed deep; her mind began its morning ritual of taking in the surroundings with her eyes still closed. She was in bed on her side, his body was warm and soft next to her, their legs still entwined from the night before. His breath brushed her lips lightly as he breathed, his head mere inches from her face and she could smell his wonderful coconut shampoo. _Coconut? Something new, _she wondered?

Her nose wiggled from a long stand of stray hair and she reached up to tuck it behind her ear. Unfortunately the hair proved to be quite stubborn and appeared unwilling to co-operate as it resisted her attempts to blindly move it. She pulled off her eye cover; the sun momentarily blinding her as it flooded the room with its morning light.

The forgotten radio finally reached its achieved volume, purposely set loud to ensure she got up; the song lyrics now easily discernible and blaring out.

**... I'm used to.**

She slowly open her eyes to better acquaint herself with the bright light and rid herself of the annoying hair. As her eyes focused, they followed the brown hair from across her face directly up to Ellie's head; her eyes fluttering open from the combination of hair tugging and music.

**Just want to try you on.**

Sarah's brain kicked into high gear as she remembered her offer to Ellie the previous night; while her eyes watched as Ellie's eyebrows pulled together in sleepy confusion, the eyelids blinking rapidly as her brain began its own processing of the situation.

**I'm curious for you.**

Sarah tensed up as she realized exactly where her legs were and with whom they were entangled. The previously welcomed heat had suddenly taking on a completely different meaning.

**Caught my attention.**

One thing was absolutely certain, it wasn't Chuck. In one aspect she was close in that it was a Bartowski, but not the right one.

**I kissed a girl and I liked it.**

Ellies eyes grew wide like saucers as she listed to the music. Sarah was pretty sure her own were just as large.

**The taste of her cherry chap stick.**

Neither woman moved; each frozen and afraid what the other would do or say.

**I kissed a girl just to try it.**

As if by mutual consent they slowly disentangled their legs.

**I hope my boyfriend don't mind it.**

Sarah eased out of the bed and headed to the radio on the wall.

**It felt so wrong it felt so right.**

With her back turned she failed to see Ellie roll her face into the pillow momentarily.

**Don't mean I'm in love tonight**

**I kissed a girl and I liked it. I liked it.**

By the time Sarah had pressed the off button and turned back around Ellie had pulled the pillow away from her face, greeting Sarah with pursed lips before suddenly breaking into a wide, if not apologetic, grin. Seeing Ellie's smile it struck her, _the same as his but not_, she thought.

The urge to laugh at the situation came upon them both suddenly and the room echoed with their light laughter. Ellie was the first to speak. "At least Morgan wasn't here this time; he probably would've been videotaping us."

Sarah's eyes flicked down momentarily at Ellie's comment about 'this time' but she left it alone and responded with, "Better than Lester or Jeff, they would've recorded us and put it on a pay per view internet site."

As the laughter slowly faded, Sarah's face became somber as she turned and looked out across the city from the window. "I wonder what Chuck would've said." The sigh was almost imperceptible.

Ellie's eyes softened as she noticed the change in Sarah. "I'm sure he would've teased me for trying to 'steal' you."

The tiniest of smiles appeared on her mouth as she gave a small "Mhmm" of agreement.

"You think about him a lot, don't you?" Ellie asked.

She curled her lips inward and bit down on them slightly. The agent in Sarah sensed an underlying reason for the question but she had no idea what it was. _No sense lying_, she thought and released her lips from the grip of her teeth. She turned and sat on the edge of the bed partially facing Ellie but looking slightly down and in front of where she lay. "Yes. Yes I do." She paused then tilted her head slightly and peered at Ellie, "Why do you ask?" She asked inquisitively.

Ellie's grin slowly faded as her eyes display concern. "You don't remember?" Sarah gave a quick shake of the head. Ellie looked a little surprised but she continued. "Sometime very early this morning you became agitated in your sleep and began calling Chuck's name."

Sarah was shocked. "I don't remember that at all."

A small blush formed on Ellie's face as she spoke. "I was going to wake you but as soon as I touched your shoulder you...umm..." Ellie paused as if unsure of herself before blurting out. "You kind of hugged me. You seemed kind of sad. I guess I fell back asleep after that."

Sarah chewed on her bottom lip as she assimilated the new information on her sleeping habits. At least that helped explain their morning embrace. It also helped highlight how deeply she was involved with Chuck. Strangely, the thought warmed her immensely, even if she did feel completely overwhelmed and intimidated by their relationship. It made her relationship with Bryce look like a street corner quickie by comparison.

"I guess I owe you a thank you." She said quietly.

"For what?" Ellie replied.

Sarah got up and walked to the window. "For being Chuck's sister and for actually including me in your family."

"How could I not? Chuck loves you." Ellie said, as if there was no other way it could be.

Sarah squashed any thoughts of what would happen if Ellie ever found out about the real motivations behind her and Chuck getting together before the recent relationship developments.

Taking a breath, she turned back to Ellie, "You interested in breakfast?"

"Don't you have to be at work?"

"Not till 9. After that I'm scheduled for a full day, so it's eat well now or suffer with gourmet wiener food later."

"Well in that case, let's eat." She said with enthusiasm, as she jumped out of bed for an impromptu hug.

_She sure likes to hug people and I don't think I mind one bit, _Sarah thought as she returned the hug.

--o--

Chuck sat in the passenger seat of the suburban. He had been off work for so long, that his Nerd Herder was assigned to someone else at the Buy More for the interim. Casey had graciouslyoffered to pick him up for work today. _Lucky me, _he thought_._ He would have much preferred a ride from Sarah, but she didn't work until a little bit later and he knew she liked her beauty sleep. _Not that she needed more of it._

At least he was much more awake and ready to go this morning than he was the previous day. Maybe he just needed to get back into the swing of things. He actually felt pretty good. Relaxed and pretty energetic at the same time and he hadn't even bothered with a coffee. He just didn't feel he needed it.

His right leg bobbed up and down on the ball of his foot, in time to some unknown beat. His thoughts drifted back to her sudden phone call late the night before. _She told me she loved me._ A grin graced his face. He couldn't wait to see her. Lunch could not come fast enough for his taste. He was already counting down the minutes until their arrival at the Buy More and then...

That's when he noticed that Casey had turned off of their regular route to work. His smiled faded and his eyebrows pulled down and towards his nose. "Casey this isn't the way to work", he said as he turned to him.

"We're making a little detour Chuck. I've arranged for some _real _work for you. I wouldn't want you to get too _rusty_ from lack of missions." Casey sarcastically replied.

"Will, will this..uh, will this take long?"

"Why, you missing the Buy More already?" Casey stole a quick glance at Chuck when he didn't answer. "Or maybe you have plans Casanova?" Casey snorted.

"Actually I'm supposed to see Sarah for lunch today." He admitted.

"Bartowski, you see _her every day_. I'm sure you can man it up and suffer through a few hours without her."

Chuck bit his lower lip, unwilling to correct Casey's statement of how often he saw her in the last week. With things looking like they might return to normal, Chuck was reluctant to get Sarah in trouble.

Casey kept Chuck's lack of admission to himself. No sense in letting Chuck know that he knew as it might compromise his plans.

The drive itself was pretty quiet. Chuck entertained himself with his iPhone tunes and pictures, his head and body bobbed and weaved in time to the music. Casey rolled his eyes at Chuck's antics but kept quiet. At least he did for the first forty-five minutes until he couldn't stand it anymore.

Without notice Casey yanked the suburban to the side of the road, slamming the brakes hard. Chuck jerked against the seatbelt, a look of panic on his face. "Casey, what's going on? Bad guys coming to kill us?" He said as he tried to shrink below the dash while peering around the vehicle looking for danger. He failed to notice the expression on Casey's face.

"Chuck."

"Yah Casey?"

"Get in the backseat. Now!"

Not understanding or picking up on Casey's tone, he looked for clarification, "But-"

"NOW, Chuck!" he said as he spun his head to face Chuck. This time Chuck took notice of the white knuckles grasping the steering wheel and Casey's bulging eyes. He struggled to get of his seat belt, and jumped out of the vehicle before hopping in behind the passenger seat. Before he could even fasten the seatbelt, Casey's voice made him freeze. "Not There. Get behind me."

With a little distance between them Chuck felt a little safer and huffed his displeasure as he slid over, grumbling slightly under his breath. As he fastened the seat belt he mumbled a smart ass reply. "Gee Casey aren't you afraid I might accidently shoot you in the back or something?

Already able to loosen his grip as he relaxed, he replied, "That might be a blessing in disguise for me. At least I wouldn't be subjecting to babysitting a guy acting like a kid on a sugar high." He emphasized his last few words by slapping the vehicle into gear and mashing the gas pedal to the floor, taking some small satisfaction in watching Chuck in the rear view mirror as he got sucked back into the seat.

Chuck squinted at Casey through the mirror before turning back to his music. He made sure to be extra bouncy in case Casey looked back his way.

--o--

Ellie pulled into the parking stall of her home shortly before 9am. Walking through the courtyard she paused and veered to John's door and knocked twice.

While she waited she pondered the last twenty four hours. She decided that she definitely liked spending time with Sarah and was looking forward to her becoming a permanent fixture in the family. Thinking of the meal and their topics of discussion, she noted that there were times she really had to pry information out of her but then no one is perfect. Before the food arrived it became blatantly obvious that Sarah was uncomfortable about her past; she compensated by asking more questions about Sarah's life now. Well, that and her relationship with Chuck.

With no answer at the door, Ellie tried to peer past the closed blinds. With no luck she sighed and headed back to her apartment. John was likely already at work with Chuck. She would just have to catch up with him later as she still had things to do before work this afternoon. The thought of another double shift did not thrill her in the least.

To avoid thinking about work she let her mind slip back to the breakfast with Sarah. By the end of their meal, she had made a date for a girl's day out next weekend. Maybe a little shopping, a movie or something where she could evaluate what Sarah liked and stick to those subjects; she was going to make every effort to make Sarah feel more comfortable with the Bartowski household.

Arriving at her door she fumbled through her purse to find her keys.

Her intuition told her that the more time she spent with her, the better the understanding of why she was so emotionally unstable in relationships. Having a friend to talk to would also go a long way in avoiding another scenario like the previous ones with Chuck.

She pushed the key into the door lock, turned it and stepped into the room, pulling her key out of the lock as she walked in. Her focus on the lock and key and her mind on Sarah and Chuck kept her from noticing Devon's approach.

"Hey babe", he said as he grabbed her shoulders.

"Eyaa!" Ellie screamed as she spun to face him, stumbling backwards in doing so.

His quick reflexes grabbed her upper arm before she could fall. "Whoa there. You alright?"

"Ye..Yes. I think so. You just startled me. I thought you would be out on your run before work."

"No, I had a couple of errands to do for the wedding and I figured it would be better to get them out of the way first. What about you? I thought you would be home by now."

"Oh, I stopped to get a bite to eat." _At least that wasn't a direct lie_, she thought.

"Really? I thought you already be home after a double. Speaking of your shift, did you sleep ok at the hospital? You had sounded pretty tired."

"Uh, yah I slept fine and I was." She tried to head towards the kitchen in an effort to avoid more questions but Devon had not released her arm. Looking back at Devon, he had a strange expression on his face. "Hon' your hand?" she said as she looked down at his hand on her arm.

"Oh sorry." He let go and she moved towards her destination.

"So did you sleep ok without me?" When he didn't immediately answer, her steps slowed, her head turning slightly and tilting sideways to better hear a response. She took a breath in to ask him again, but he responded before she could. "Yep. Never even noticed you weren't _there_."

She hesitated in her walk towards the kitchen; she could've sworn she detected something odd in the way he replied, but before she could turn and ask him, he was out the front door. The words barely making it through the door as it closed behind him. "Back after _my_ _errands_."

His behaviour was definitely off she decided. He didn't even say goodbye. She would have to ask him later about it, but for now she had to finish her own things and get ready for work again. It would be her last double shift for the near future and of that she was grateful. She gave her head a small shake, as if to clear her thoughts and went back to her tasks at hand.

_--o--_

_A/N: Ironically I wrote the radio scene with Ellie/Sarah on the last day of my 5 day vacation (now a couple of weeks back) and I pondered the statistical odds of a radio alarm playing a song that in some way matches the situation you wake up in. The next morning I was woken up by MY radio alarm to the song lyrics, "__**Get up and start all over again**__", for my first day back at work._

--o--


	7. Wargames Part 2

**Chapter 6**

**Wargames – Part 2**

Sarah almost bounced into the Weinerlicious buoyed by her talk from Ellie and their delightful breakfast. She had ordered a fruit salad, a side of toast and treated herself to a few pieces of bacon. She thought of Chuck as she ate.

Sarah noticed that Ellie had raised an eyebrow at the way she savored every bite of the bacon but she couldn't help it, it reminded her of the day not that long ago when he brought it to the bathroom door. Maybe this next time he would be joining her in the shower.

Today she would get to see Chuck and it felt _great._

--o--

Twenty minutes off the highway, Casey pulled into a small town outside L.A. Nothing appeared remarkable about the tiny town or the buildings in it. It seemed almost deserted; everything looking like it was still stuck in the late 60's or early 70's.

Casey slowed and pulled into what appeared to be an old deserted service station. He drove into one of the empty bays and parked on a hoist. Chuck looked at Casey, but knew better than to ask. "Ok then, I guess we get out", Chuck said to no one in particular as he exited the vehicle, mimicking Casey's actions.

"Stay with me Chuck." Casey said as he walked out of the service garage and down the street. Several steps out of the garage, Chuck heard a small whirring noise and looked behind them in time to see the suburban disappear into the floor and an empty hoist appear. "Cool," he muttered under his breath.

Moments later, they were climbing the stone steps towards the entrance of a building that Chuck supposed housed the archives. To him it just looked like an old run down two story office building. Once inside the building Chuck actually saw people moving about their business.

As they walked through the hallway towards the back of the building he turned to Casey. Anticipating his question Casey spoke, "It doubles as a city hall for the town and surrounding area. It's better if we use legit locations."

Chuck nodded as if it made perfect sense, not willing to anger Casey with any questions that might be deemed idiotic as they were no longer separated by a seat or seat belt.

Five minutes later and they were in a hidden elevator heading down below ground. The elevator door had opened up to a nondescript concrete hallway. They found themselves standing outside a set of double doors in short order. The plaque on the door simply stated 'Vehicle Simulations – Rm 7-1'. Chuck assumed that the 7 matched the 7th floor as that was how far down they came in the elevator. He had no idea what vehicle simulations meant, as all Casey had told him was that it was an archive facility and the door description didn't match anything to do with archives.

Casey turned to face Chuck, breaking him out of his inspection of the door. "You'll have to wait in here; you are not cleared for the archives."

Casey pushed through the doors, and Chuck followed. He stepped into what looked like a waiting room in an old doctor's office. Complete with the 1970 black vinyl covered chairs with square tubing arms and the small rectangular wood fastened as arm rests. The only item out of place was a mirror mounted in the wall to the left of the entrance. It looked like it had been pulled off of someone's bathroom medicine cabinet. A small round in-wall speaker was mounted above it. Next to the mirror was a solid looking metal door with no handle. There was nothing else in the room. No pictures, no magazines, nothing.

While scanning the room a disembodied voice asked for identification and waited while Casey responded and held up his ID to the mirror.

Not wanting to be left in this dismal room for God knows how long, Chuck griped. "What? I'm just supposed to sit here?"

"Relax Chuck."

"Agent Vascuraz, can you set up the chase simulator for Mr. Carmichael."

Chuck couldn't help wonder how Casey knew who was behind the mirror, but he didn't waste too much time thinking about it when he heard the rest of the sentence. "Chase simulator?" Chuck asked, as he took another glance around the room, confusion clearly evident on his face.

The voice sounded through the wall speaker once again. "Sure. What level?"

"Whatever he can handle. He's a big video game fan...so maybe lean a little on the _high_ side."

Chuck was too surprised about the discussion of a CIA simulator to notice the sarcasm in Casey's voice. It was doubtful that he would have even cared as he was more than a little enthusiastic about playing games at a CIA facility. Maybe coming with Casey today won't be so bad. A click coming from the single steel door caught his attention.

The speaker voice sounded, "You have 15 seconds to enter before it relocks. I suggest you move quickly."

Casey grabbed Chuck by the collar and pulled him unceremoniously through the unlocked door and into the room beyond.

Chuck's eyes bulged, his jaw dropping as he took in the view. In front of him was a huge room, easily large enough to house the multiple vehicle simulators spread out before him, and these were by no means kiddie rides. Each vehicle was hooked up to a vast array of hydraulics and rotating platforms. There was no question in Chucks mind that they could simulate almost anything.

Vehicles of all sizes and shapes covered the floor, sports cars, minivans, cube vans, semi's, even three wheelers, quads and a motorcycle, and that was just the ones in the front couple of rows. Obviously some simulators were more advanced than others, as shown by the amount of equipment surrounding them.

After Chuck had his fill of staring he turned to Casey and realized he was no longer standing next to him. "Casey?"

"Here", he called from somewhere off to the right. Following the voice he passed under an open arch and was greeted by Casey and another man. He looked to be of Mexican descent and likely Agent Vascuraz, the voice from behind the speaker. The agent was seated in the center of a large circular computer setup with monitors all around him, each accompanied by multiple gauges and displays for all the different equipment.

Casey had apparently already been giving instructions, finishing up as Chuck approached. Looking at Chuck he gave him a serious glare, "Don't break anything Carmichael or you bought it."

Chuck's eyes enlarged again until he caught the agent behind Casey roll his eyes. Chuck squinted back at Casey. "Thanks for the tip big guy."

Casey smirked and walked past Chuck. Agent Vascuraz will take care of you. Stay here until I get back. Understood?"

"Perfectly. Stay with the toys. Got it."

Casey grimace turned growl before heading out the door.

"Wow, he's a pleasant one isn't he?" Agent Vascuraz remarked.

"You think that's something, you should see him on his bad days."

"I'd rather not", he laughed. "So what would you like to try Agent Carmichael?"

Chuck's face scrunched up a little at the title. "Would you mind if we were little less formal. My friends call me Chuck." He held out his hand and gave the agent his trademark Bartowski smile.

A shake and quick introduction later and Chuck was scanning the room for his choice of vehicle. It only took a few seconds of hunting before he saw the _perfect _vehicle to try. "That one".

"Ohh, the Porsche. Nice choice. All the agents want to try that one. They say it makes them feel like James Bond. Jump in and I'll talk to you directly. Don't worry about a headset, the simulator is loaded with video and audio feeds. It's so accurate, you sneeze and I'll be wiping at my station...but let's hope it doesn't come to that", he grinned.

--o--

Fifteen minutes later and Chuck is feeling a little overwhelmed as the vehicle stops shaking. The agent's voice filled the cab as it came from the hidden speakers. "You do realize the missiles won't bounce off the Porsche, right?" Not waiting for an answer he asked. "You ok?"

Chuck stretched his neck by rotating his head in a circular motion. "Yah, just a bruised ego. I guess it's a little different than my 360 at home. I don't get slammed into the steering wheel when I crash." He chuckled.

Laughter is heard from the speakers. "Maybe try and take it easy. A lot of agents think of other things to relax. They say it helps them slip into a better frame of mind while concentrating on driving."

"I'll give that a shot. Thanks." Taking the agents advice he thought of his breakfast with Sarah a few weeks back. His breathing slowed, a smile crept out, and he felt much calmer.

The agent watched Chuck relax, using the Porsche's internal video feed. Once he was confident Chuck was comfortable he fired the simulator back up. The driving score rose substantially as he watched Chuck drive through various city environments, enduring multiple violent situations. Chasing and being chased. Most of them end with him crashing.

Even with the frequent crashes he is amazed as Chuck's time and score improves in every scenario each time he runs it. _Agent Casey did say to push him_, he thinks as he pulls up a seldom used scenario.

"Try this one on for size Chuck. We usually run it in one of the vans or emergency vehicles to add a little more realism, but we'll try it in the Porsche for fun. You game?"

"Sure. I can't do much worse than I have been."

_If you only knew how well you're doing you wouldn't be saying that._

"What's the mission this time? Outrun the police, instead of the bad guys?"

"Ok, parameters loaded. No. This time you have a critically wounded person as a passenger. You're on a time limit. You make it, the person lives. You don't, they die and you lose. Timer starts...Now!" Vascuraz watched in the monitors as Chuck just sat there unmoving.

"Chuck? Your ten seconds in. You going or what?"

Chuck let out his breath in a huge burst. He hadn't realized he was holding it.

Shaking off his sudden confusion, "Yah, sorry. I'm on it." With this simulation being so close to his real life experience a few weeks ago, he couldn't help but bring up an image of Sarah's pale face, her body covered in blood.

Goosebumps spread across his skin, an icy calm fell upon him as he focused on his destination. The pedal hit the floor.

--o--

Devon entered the apartment quietly. "Babe?" He waited for a response. When none was forthcoming he stepped further into the apartment, glancing down the hall. The bathroom door was closed.

"Babe, I'm back." With still no response he moved to the bathroom door and leaned towards it. The shower was running. Moving away from the door he made his way back to the dining room table. With one last glance around the room he pulled Ellie's purse towards him and reached in.

Seconds later he pulled out her cell, flipped it open and began pressing buttons. A few presses later and his eyes squinted, his mouth forming a flat line. "That's _so _not awesome" he mumbled quietly to himself. He closed the cell and placed it back in the purse and pushed it to its original position before spinning and heading out the front door.

_Errands indeed, _he thought.

--o--

"Again."

"Chuck. Don't you want to try another? You been at this one for almost an hour. Your scoring really well, but I gotta say, your much too reckless to complete without crashing."

"Again, _please._"

The agent sighed. "Ok, but you need to slow it up to complete. I guess I should have warned you ahead of time, this is one of our more demanding missions."

"I don't have a problem with the mission. I have a problem with the car. It feels like it has a rock tied to its ass. Everything I do feels like it takes way too long to respond."

"Don't know what to tell you Chuck other than it looks fine on this end." _Maybe I should've stuck to the easier ones._ Agent Vascuraz sighed. _Gamers._ "Starting simulation...Now!"

--o--

Casey looked at his watch; two hours, forty-three minutes had passed since he left Chuck. Agent Vascuraz buzzed him back in.

Skipping the small talk Casey headed straight over the console station. "How's he doing?"

"Pretty good actually. The video game playing must be paying off quite well in his case. His first scores were pretty random, varying from the low 30's to the high 60's. The low scores being mostly on the missions that had modified armament's. He wasn't used to the explosions affecting the vehicle. It's common of people that play video games. Consumer level gaming systems don't simulate everything that our system does."

Casey shook his head, "Geeks."

The Agent Vascuraz looked up over his glasses at Casey. It was obvious that the Major didn't approve of technically inclined people, preferring to call them 'geeks'. It was unfortunate that most field agents had his attitude. That being the case, Agent Vascuraz took some small pleasure in the next piece of news, smirking as he spoke. "Yah, he started pretty low. Now he's in the high 80's and climbing. He would probably be much better, but he has a tendency towards dangerous maneuvers that get him killed. He insists that the system timing is off, but I can't see that. I chalk it up to gamers ego."

Casey said nothing but gave the agent a look that screamed 'huh?'.

Having seen that same expression once too often from others he automatically explained what he meant. "When a person plays video games a lot, they seem to develop an ego that makes it hard for them to accept defeat by a computer. They simply replay it over and over until they beat it. I call that disbelief of a losing to a computer 'Gamers Ego'". Regardless, he is a natural in the simulator. A couple more hours at this and he should be pushing a solid 90 score."

"What! It took me months on that simulator to consistently get in the 80's."

"It's funny, but a lot of the pre-video game era agents have that problem. Seems to be that they are ill equipped for extremely fine motor control of their hands. As it stands, Chuck's only weakness appears to be his persistent compliant of 'lag'. Seems to think he's playing on an Xbox or something and the reaction times are _off; _similar to what he would experience while playing online games with other players. I say he's just played too many games. This system is state of the art."

Casey barely heard the agent, instead focusing on how Chuck could score so high. "You sure they didn't make the tests easier. You know, to boost enrollment for women and geeks." He growled.

"I'm not sure what your implying _Major Casey_, but yes the tests have changed.

A smirk appeared on Casey and he nodded his head up and down slightly as if that explained everything.

"They increased in difficulty last year."

Casey's smirk turned into a grimace.

"Matter of fact, if you scored in the 80's before you would likely score in the high 60's and low 70's based on the new tests" Agent Vascuraz stated with a smirk now on his mouth.

Casey pulled in a deep breath to calm himself. He could not take the risk of using the simulators more than needed to assess Chuck and he didn't have time to spend stroking his own ego. _Damn smart ass geeks._

Casey glared, knowing full well that the agent knew he had the upper hand. Agent Vasucruaz simply ignored Casey's stare and turned towards the monitors. "Anyway, he's already past most agents in ability, although that's not to say he could actually do the same in the vehicle real time. Simulation to real life doesn't always translate exactly. What did you say he does in the field?"

Casey knew that in this case, it looked more like Chuck was better in the field than on the video game. Odd, but still doesn't explain how he's doing it. Looking at the monitors as they showed Chuck concentrating on the game, he certainly didn't look like he was holding back. He did look like he was having fun, although he was a bit frustrated when he crashed. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the agent was staring at him and it occurred to him that he was still waiting for an answer. Gruffly he replied, "I didn't."

Watching the view screen Casey waited until Chuck has just crashed, rolling the Porsche in a magnificent and risky maneuver to avoid an incoming rocket. Taking the crash as the cue to leave he leaned towards the microphone, "Chuck, it is time to go."

Chuck started slightly from the unexpected voice, but nodded and exited the simulator with a smile.

Casey watched as Chuck began to exit the vehicle before turning from the screen, "Where are the recordings?"

"There are none, as he is not officially scheduled. I can burn you this last one, as it is still stored in memory."

"Do it." The process took only a few seconds, just enough time for a smiling Chuck to arrive at the control console as Casey pocketed the disc.

As they left the simulation room Chuck called back over his shoulder, "Thanks for the fun. Remember to check those reaction settings."

The agent raised his hand and nodded to acknowledge Chuck. He had no intention of checking any calculations. The simulation was fine. The people they sometimes bring in here. Most are so filled with their own ego, they barely even notice that he is the one setting up the simulation for them; instead treating him like a piece of hardware.

Chuck was definitely a more agreeable and likable agent, and he didn't seem to suffer from most ego issues, but telling him that the program wasn't working right just didn't sit well. He shook his head side to side, probably never see him again anyway.

Turning back to his real work, he failed to notice the last video simulation of Chuck was still displayed on the monitor.

--

Exiting the room Chuck asked, "Where to now Casey?

"Lunch. We'll grab some grub at the cafeteria, then I have to get a few more documents for you to look over. We can go over some of the ones I have already pulled while we eat." He raised a black briefcase that he had not been carrying on their arrival at the facility and patted the side. Lowering it he noted that Chuck seemed overly upbeat. Not the usual state for him when being presented with work involving flashes. "All right spill it. Why are you so happy?"

"Hmm, oh, considering this is a CIA installation, I thought it would be a little stale in here. More like the one where we...caught up with my old friend." He said, reluctant to mention Bryce. "This one is a lot more fun."

Chuck's eyes rolled up and to the slightly to the right, as he pondering something. Before Casey could ask, Chuck spoke, "Fun. CIA. Fun. CIA. Nope, just doesn't seem to fit."

Casey rolled his eyes. "It does if you get to shoot someone", Casey muttered but Chuck either didn't hear or simply ignored him.

"Hey if we're stopping for lunch, I should call Sarah. She'll be expecting me."

Casey glanced sideways at Chuck. He didn't want him to call her. He would likely let slip where they are. She can't know; at least not yet. "No Chuck. Keep your phone off. I'll call her and tell her you're with me."

Chuck had already started taking out his phone. Childish disappointment flashed across his face as he appeared to shift into an immediate pout. He was not happy about not being able to talk to her and tried to cover his displeasure by speaking as if he was ok with it, "Yah, sure. I understand."

Casey wasn't buying Chuck's agreement. It was obvious he didn't understand, but he didn't have time to hand hold because Chuck was feeling down. He pressed speed dial and waited for her to answer.

"Walker, Chuck is with me." ...

"No everything is fine, but he won't be making his regular lunch meeting. He thought you should know so you wouldn't worry. I'll have him home for supper. Casey out."

He didn't wait for a response and promptly hung up, turning off his phone at the same time as they arrive at a set of double doors clearly labeled Cafeteria.

--o--


	8. Wargames Part 3

_A/N: A side effect of the multi-part chapter splitting makes the beginning of this chapter a little weird. It actually steps back in time about 5 or so minutes into the very end of the last chapter._

**Chapter 7**

**Wargames – Part 3 **

The morning at the Wienerlicious had been hectic but not nearly busy enough to stop Sarah from periodically checking the time on her watch. Lunch time is quickly approaching and Chuck is expected. After the recent resolution to the emotionally draining previous week, she is more than a little expectant at seeing his curly hair, wide smile and bottomless brown eyes. It won't be long before her shift is over and she can find some actual time to sit down with Chuck to discuss or _not discuss _anything that might _come up. Sometimes talk is cheap and action is worth a thousand words.  
_

Disregarding her previous "_freak-out week", _and now that they are actually serious about a relationship, he has automatically stepped up his contact with her. He's no longer timid about calling her and he always comes to see her at lunch. She smiles to herself. From a job perspective, he is much easier to track. From that angle alone she can spend a lot more time with him. Right now both sides benefit from the closer contact. She is more convinced than ever that he is the one for her and is glad they are working to patch up the misunderstanding of last week. With any luck she is hoping to rekindle the fire and make up for lost time.

She didn't know when it changed, but it had. He was always chasing her, now she felt like she was chasing him. If she could only _catch_ him for longer than five minutes they might actually get somewhere. A sudden flash of heat thrills her and she bites her bottom lip, contemplating an excuse to stand in the freezer room for a few minutes to cool down.

She is startled out of her reverie by the ring of her phone. Looking at the LCD, she see's that it's Casey. She answers. "Walker here. What's up?". ...

"Chuck is with you? Is everything all right?"...

"Casey?" What the hell! She pulls the phone from her ear to look at it. He hung up!

She tried to call him back, but it went directly to voice mail. She tried to call Chuck but it also went to voice mail.

Her agent sense went off. Something was up.

She placed a call to the Director and once the line was deemed secure she began bombarding him with questions.

"Director Graham, I was wondering if there any upcoming mission briefings that I should be aware of?"

Confused he answered, "No. Should there be any?" Before she can respond his voice becomes worried. "Is there a problem agent Walker?"

"Not that I am aware of, although I did get a very brief call from Agent Casey stating he was with Chuck today and they were unavailable."

"Strange. Hold the line for a moment." He puts her on hold while he checks into it. Picking the line back up, his voice is calm again, "It's not a problem Agent Walker. Apparently Major Casey is pulling some older cold case files from the archives at the nearby CIA Training Facility for Chuck to review. It looks like he is using the current downtime to maximize our asset. While I admire their initiative, I think I would prefer you to head over there. I'd rather not be kept out of the loop when it comes to the NSA reviewing CIA documents."

"Yes sir. Walker out."

Reviewing documents? What the hell was Casey doing? He didn't tell her anything about this idea of his and from the recent call, he likely sprung this on Chuck, otherwise Chuck would have let her know as soon as he found out.

Matter of fact, Chuck probably didn't think he was going to be gone long either or he would have stopped by the Weinerlicious to let her know before going. Relationships definitely did have a certain predictability about them, even when fighting. She started making preparations to leave work a little early. With any luck she would be at the training facility in a couple of hours.

--o--

Casey closed the last file and slapped it down on top of the others, careful not to drop it in the various piles of drink containers and food wrappers strewn around the table. He pressed the button on the digital recorder laying between them and flipped the cover on his notepad closed.

Chuck, his head in his hands, caught sight of Casey packing the files. "Alrighty then. It looks like my job here is done. Can we leave now?" Chuck asked impatiently. He was glad Casey had pulled him into one of the side rooms off of the main cafeteria. He didn't feel quite so embarrassed when Casey badgered him on file after file.

"Relax Chuck. Just because you had a few flashes on those old files doesn't mean much. We haven't found anything that could really be construed as groundbreaking in any fashion.

"Oh come on Casey. How much more am I going to be expected to go over? I'm getting a headache, I'm starting to get tired and I already missed lunch with Sarah."

"Come on _Carmichael, _it's not like this is hard work."

"I never said it was hard. It's my second day back at work and you didn't even give me a warning that I would be down in a bunker flashing on some moldy files. Besides I've got the feeling much more of this and to end up with a migraine."

"Don't start saddling that horse just yet Chuck. I still have more files to pull. We're not done yet."

"Casey, at this rate I won't make it in time for supper. I'm tired, grumpy, and I appear to be out of 'flash' practice, each one adding more than the usual amount of pain. Besides what's Sarah going to say when I don't show up after work."

Casey snorted, "Let me guess, you can't wait to get home and eat. Don't you worry lover boy, I'll have you home in plenty of time. I'm just going to grab these files and we can take them with us. Come on."

"Casey, I don't think I could take moving, or non-moving vehicles as it were, right now." Chuck said, letting his mouth hang and sticking his tongue out while making gagging noises to emphasis his condition.

"Do you ever stop griping." Casey grimaced. "Don't answer that. If you must know, I'm not taking you back to the simulator. I have someplace else to put you in the mean time."

Chuck turned to follow Casey, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, muttering. "Why does the trash compactor scene from 'A New Hope' suddenly spring to mind."

--o--

The plaque on the outside of the door said 7- 4 Strategy. Inside it was just another waiting room, another mirror and more 1970 black vinyl chairs. Only this time when Casey held up his badge, the voice told them to sit. Matter of fact, that's what he'd been doing for the last twenty minutes since Casey left with a "Stay out of trouble, I'll be back in a couple of hours."

When Chuck heard the 'stay' command, it made him miss Sarah that much more. Aside from being a girlfriend she was a _nicer _ agent to have around. An agent that didn't leave you in a room for hours at a time. At least she didn't unless you were a bad guy, which he was most certainly not. He sighed and propped his elbows on his knees, dropping his face into his hands.

To top things off, the headache had gotten a little worse and he felt like he was recovering from a hangover. Didn't remember that from flashes before. He would've laid down on the chairs but they all had fixed metal arms which made using them as a bed impossible. Within a few minutes he found himself very bored, uncomfortable and uncharacteristically depressed. Not that he didn't have a lot to be happy about, he just felt more reclusive and down than usual.

The agent watched Chuck through the monitor. The poor guy looked totally out of his element. His slumped shoulders, downcast eyes and completely non-aggressive posture gave him away as likely an analyst or advisor of some type. He didn't even need to make a comment on his clothes as they screamed nerd to anyone in sight.

_Reminds me of...me. _ The agent smiled. He stood, leaned forward and pressed the button. Mr. Carmichael, you have been cleared to pass. Enter the door on the right of the mirror please. You have 15 seconds.

The voice startled Chuck, as he was in the beginning stages of dozing off. His head nearly falling off the supporting hands; he jumped up for the door before the time ran out.

Once he was through the door, Chuck's adrenaline picked up his spirits a bit as he took in the room. It struck him that the room, or rather rooms, before him were laid out similar to his frat house dorm at Stanford. Right down to the coffee/soup vending machines. They even had a pool table and HD LCD TV's.

The agent watched Mr. Carmicheal take in the room with his mouth hanging. _Yep, definitely an analyst, never been in the strategy section. _

"Good afternoon. I'm Agent Manuel. Sorry to keep you waiting out there, but I've been working on some code and can't really afford any distractions."

Chuck looked a little confused. "Ahh, yah, I understand. No problem. I'm Mr. Carmichael...but you already knew that." He said stumbling his way through the conversation. "You know what, I'm just glad I'm not sitting out there; you can call me Chuck." His teeth gleamed white in appreciation for being saved from the waiting room.

The agent couldn't help but return Chuck's infectious smile. _A little bit green but he seems nice._

Eyebrows up, Chuck rotated his head around the room, unaware that his headache had dropped to a dull throb in the background. "I know the door said strategy but this is definitely not what I expected." His eyes landed on the pool table. "I kind of expected to see miniatures on table top battle grounds and books on war. Something like Sun Tzu, 'The Art of War' and big strategy maps or something on the walls."

Agent Manuel chuckled. "Actually we do. The books including 'The Art of War' are all in eBook format." He turned to his desk and pulled open a drawer. Reaching his hand in, he pulled a Sony eBook out. A couple of presses and he handed it to Chuck. "Sun Tzu. All eBooks are wireless so we can pull any of the books we need right from the database on the facility. If necessary, we can have the books cleared for 'check out' much like library books and take them out of the facility for reading at home if we like."

Chuck was again impressed. Both with the modified eBook and with how easily the agent pulled the information Chuck asked about. Chuck handed the eBook back to the agent.

As for maps, watch this. The agent spun back to face the computer screen on the desk and typed in a few commands. The top of the pool table lifted up several inches and flipped completely over, rotating on pins at the short ends of the table. On the reverse side were several strange orbs. As Chuck watched, they came to life, lighting up like small flashlights. Within seconds Chuck was looking at what appeared to be a 3d holographic map floating over the table. "That's freaking awesome!"

The agent's chest puffed out a little bit. It was a long time since he had been able to impress anyone. At least not anyone that actually would show emotion. "That's nothing. Check this out." He pressed a few buttons and the map went from black/white to full color then rotated from the horizontal plan to the vertical one, standing 90 degrees from the center of the table Pressing a few more buttons, a grid was overlaid on the map and small manlike figures and buildings began populating various sections of the map.

"Oh my God. I would've loved to have something like this for those nights playing BattleTech or Warhammer. It would've taken the game to a whole new level." He spun to face the agent. "Can they move?"

The agent deflated just a touch. "Not yet. We can move them by assigning a new location using a modified pointer or by keyboard, but they only de-rez and reappear in the new location. I figure it's another 3 or 4 years before we have the technology and processing power to redraw the characters in real time moving from one location to the other. After that they want to show projectiles in real time as well."

"This is still freaking fantastic."

"Cutting edge. They just got it up and running six months ago. I actually use it for coding the strategy programs."

"You can do that?"

"Sure." He pressed more keys and the terrain faded out and lines of computer code appeared.

"Hey is that code written in C?"

The agent's right eyebrow raised a touch. "C sharp actually, or a modified version of it. I was actually working on some strategy code when you arrived, but I'm going to have to consult with the rest of my team on it. I'm not making any headway."

"I could take a look if you like. I'm a little rusty but I still keep up to date on the newest C updates."

Agent Manuel frowned slightly, but cleared his face of any emotion before Chuck looked to him for an answer.

"I never did ask which section you work for. Intelligence?"

Chuck snorted, completed misinterpreting the underlying question. "Ahh, no, nothing like that. I'm just an analyst. About the closest I get to war games is on the computer. My 360 doesn't have a very good selection to play. Back in the day I used to play several different games. Everything from Command and Conquer to Masters of Orion. I haven't really played in a while though. Besides, those South Koreans, take it pretty hard when they lose. Seems they live to play, so they get pretty ticked if a casual gamer beats them over and over.

Manuel squinted ever so slightly as he evaluated Chuck's response. Satisfied he chuckled, "I know what you mean. I used to play those before I started working here. Now I spend most of my time writing code for the war game simulations."

"I used to code my own games back at...university." Chuck had almost given away where he went to school. Letting any information out was bad. At least that's what Casey had said before they entered the facility. If anything, he was to be referred to as Chuck Carmichael, analyst. Fortunately for Chuck if the agent noticed the pause, he ignored it.

The agent's face softened slightly, his interest piqued at Chuck's admission on writing software code. "Tell you what. I'm currently trying to figure out how to fix our current simulation. It has a logic error somewhere. When flanking the target, the computer suddenly does sporadic things that allow holes to form in the defenses."

"I love logic code, although it can be pretty hard to find the problem at times. Have you tried reversing the simulation?

"Actually I've tried pretty much everything and will need the help of my team."

"Would it be alright if I took a look?" Suddenly realizing where he was, Chuck backtracked quickly and blurted out, "If that's ok. I don't want to get you in trouble or step on anybody's toes. I just have a couple of hours to kill." He inwardly grimaced at his choice of the word kill. Not a good word to use around trained agents.

"Were not supposed to, but it is only training code and its nothing proprietary that you couldn't find out in the commercial industry. What the hell, here, look at this." He punched a few more keys and the current holographic code faded out and more code faded in. "What do you see in this section?"

As Chuck begins poring over the code, the agent pulls up another chair for him to sit in. "By the way, call me Manny. All my friends do."

Chuck smiled in response before turning back to the floating display.

"Would you like a soda while you look?"

Chuck looks thoroughly engrossed in reviewing the screen, but he still responds, "Sure. Got any Dr. Pepper?"

"Two frosty DP's coming up." He said and headed to the vending machine next to the coffee/soup machine.

--o--

It took a little longer to get out of work, but she finally found someone to cover the rest of her shift. She was home long enough to change and she was out the door. She had tried to phone Chuck and Casey again, but their phones were still off. She didn't like that one bit.

It took almost an hour to reach the facility and when she did, she wasn't sure where to start. She had asked for Major Casey at Security and they had informed her that he was near the lowest levels in the archives. She didn't ask about Chuck specifically, but did inquire if the Major had an analyst with him. Security had said that a Chuck Carmichael had checked in with the Major, but was not given clearance to the archive level. He was cleared for training level 7 by the Major. She nodded at the guard and proceeded to the elevator.

--o--

It took a bit of time, but Casey got enough relevant data to make it look like their visit was genuine. Now that he had started digging around in the old files, cold cases, as they were, he found that they might actually come across something useful. Might not be such a Red Herring after all. He snorted to himself before glancing at his watch. It had taken him marginally longer than he had expected but he was still pretty close to being on schedule.

He stepped into the elevator and punched seven. Now to collect Chuck. Chuckling to himself, the poor bastard is probably bored out of his mind and going insane from not being able to talk to Walker every two seconds. Being as Chuck is into video games, the strategy room wouldn't be something that interests him all the much. After all, he plays _intellectual _games like Guitar Hero or Halo. Kind of low on the strategic thinking side of things. All in all, Chuck is probably more than ready to leave. A quick glance at his watch and it's been well over 2 hours since he put him in there.

--o--

Sarah thought about the guards comments and could see nothing out of the ordinary. There would be no reason to have Chuck cleared for the archive level, so he would stick him somewhere while he went and picked up the files. There was something nagging her but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. She waited until the elevator emptied. It had been full of technicians. Suit or not, they had a distinct Chuck like 'air' about them, but they were not her 'Chuck'. She didn't give them a second thought as she pressed the button for the archive level. The techs had stopped just outside the elevator to talk. While she waited for the rest of the people to enter and the doors to close she heard a portion of their tech's discussion.

Tech Agent 1: "Yah I retried them. He was right. There was a problem with reaction time; at least in his case. He was marginally faster than the code allowed for, so when the software tried to evaluate his movements against the avoidance coding, it would fail him simply because he was moving faster than it was set to detect movement for. The change doesn't affect the program as much as his results indirectly affect every other agents scores. We would have to place everyone on a bell curve, as he becomes the top end by which everyone is based. I'm pretty sure a lot of people would be pissed at their drop in score."

Sarah's attention piques at this. The elector doors have begun to close.

Tech Agent 2: "See. I told you Chuck was right."

Upon hearing Chucks name she jammed her arm into the closing doors to stop the elevator.

The group of technicians saw this and stopped speaking as she stepped out of the elevator. Putting her most charming face on, she walked into the now speechless group, and spoke. "Are you gentleman referring to Chuck Carmichael, by any chance?"

Tech Agent 2: "Why yes. Do you know him?"

--o--


	9. Wargames Part 4

_A/N: Language and sexual content warning._

**Chapter 8**

**Wargames – Part 4**

Casey was more than a little worried, yet if anyone was to look at him they would not see a drop of concern. They would however pick up on the all business attitude, his cold demeanor, and the single minded determination. Chuck was not in the waiting room. No signs of struggle either. Not that he would expect any, but still.

There was no answer from his pounding on the door or the mirror. Being that both were quite thick for protection and soundproofing, he doubted anyone would hear. He might as well have been pounding a brick wall. Getting nowhere he pulled his cell out and turned it on. Ignoring the missed calls from Walker he called to the security desk upstairs. If he couldn't get in they should at least be able to call down and directly into the room. Worst case scenario, it gets elevated to the security station at the bottom level of the facility and they do a remote release on the door. He didn't think it would come to that, but he started to mentally prepare himself for the worst.

Two minutes later the disembodied voice echoed through the speaker in the wall. "Enter."

Looks like it won't be transferred downstairs after all. Casey straightened, put on his 'I'm gonna rip you a new one' face and pushed through the door.

Barging through the door he got no further than just the other side. His mouth dropped open in surprise, the door closing unnoticed behind him as he is assaulted by the noise of a dozen people yelling suggestions and cheering. _What the hell?_ Scanning the group, some people shifted slightly and his eyes locked on Chuck's white shirt and curly hair. He is in the middle of the group, facing some kind of futuristic map floating in mid air. Small figures doting the various landscape of the map. Taking a step closer he realized the little figures looked eerily like small robots.

_Jesus fucking Christ. How does he do that? I leave him for five minutes and he's making 'buddies'. What kind of show is the CIA running letting them play games? Thank Christ it's time to go, otherwise he'd have the entire place hanging out playing video games, drinking pop and listening to those damn iTunes songs of his. I swear to God this generation is going to turn the country into a big shit hole of incompetence. The can't even design a proper strategy room. Not a single freaking book or map in sight. It's no wonder they are playing games._

Casey moved forward to collect his asset. An odd thought rushed into Casey's mind. _I wonder if this is how Dad felt when he came home to that party I had after Grad._ A burst of air escaped his mouth and he pulled his mouth into a grimace as he moved through the crowd.

--o--

Punching seven on the elevator she began her descent to the training level. The tech's said Agent Vascuraz was still at his station and could answer more of her questions. And answer them he did. Twenty minutes later she exited room 7-1.

Slipping the disc into her coat pocket, she headed to the strategy room next. Agent Manuel was supposed to be back from supper by now.

Speaking of supper, she had missed hers. She was tired, hungry and more than a little pissed at Casey. Worst of all, she hadn't got to see Chuck although she still held out hope on seeing him tonight when she got back to the city.

--o--

The first part of the ride had been stressful. He made sure Chuck sat in the back again as he reamed him out for drawing attention to himself. Now everyone would know he was there. Of course Chuck didn't understand. How could he? If he was told why he was really there he would likely balk at the idea and tell Walker. That's all he needed. No, she couldn't know until he was ready to tell. He just needed a little more time.

_Speaking of time_, he thought as he pulled into the parking stall at their apartments; it was time for Chuck to get out.

There you go Chuck. Back safe and sound. Chuck?" A moment of panic griped him when a glance to the mirror revealed that Chuck wasn't sitting behind him. "What the hell", he said as he spun in the driver's seat. His adrenalin rush tapered off as he found Chuck laying on the seat sleeping. "Damn it Bartowski" he grumbled under his breath. He jumped out of the suburban and opened the rear door. "Come on Chuck. Time to get you inside."

When Chuck didn't move Casey grabbed his shirt and sat him up. Chuck finally started coming around. "Bartowski, what is the matter with you?"

The reply was somewhat weak and defiantly not up to Chuck's usual self. "Casey? Sorry. I'm really tired and feel a little nauseous. I think I'm going to just skip supper."

"Christ. If flashing is going to take that much out of you when you haven't done it in a while, maybe we should keep a couple of files around for those 'off' weeks, so you can stay in shape. What the hell happened? You weren't exactly sleepy in the strategy room when I came to get you."

"I guess the pop and excitement helped keep me going." He said with an odd slur.

"Hmmph. What are you going to tell Walker, slugger?"

Chuck slid off the seat and leaned against the truck for support. "Would you mind telling her I'm just a little tired from the flashes and needed to rest. I'll talk to her in the morning."

Casey shrugged. "Whatever. I've got to report our fun filled day anyway."

"Thanks." Chuck staggered to his bedroom window and climbed in, closing it behind him.

Casey watched Chuck walk to his bedroom window. If he didn't know any better Chuck looked almost drunk, but that was impossible he was with him all day. He shook his head, grabbed his briefcase of files and headed to his own apartment.

He didn't bother to mention that with Chuck not wanting to talk to her tonight, it would help cover the training run. The more time between their visit and her finding out meant a lower likely hood of her tracking down what they were really doing.

--o--

She had just missed them. Security said they were gone an hour ago. She tried Chuck and Casey on their cells, but Chucks went to voice mail immediately, meaning it was off, while Casey's went after several rings. He was either ignoring her or unable to pickup.

Several minutes later her phone rang. It was Casey.

"Walker here."

"Just giving you a message for Chuck. He said he's pretty tired today and he will talk to you tomorrow."

"Chuck said that?"

"Yep" came the smug reply. Casey thought he almost her the click of her teeth coming together.

"And he couldn't tell me this on his own?"

"Stands to reason if I'm telling you now doesn't it?"

"Anything else you want to tell me?"

"It's been a long day Walker. I'm just going to relax and call it a night."

"I guess some of us had a longer day than others", she snapped. She didn't wait for a response and hung up.

--

Casey pulled on his robe and drained the bathtub, making sure to grab his cigar and glass of scotch before leaving the bathroom. She sounded pissed but it was better this way. He could deal with her tomorrow. Besides, he had just finished watching Chuck's last driving simulation several times and he was no closer to understanding Chuck than when he started. He felt a sudden urge for some soft music, a can of tuna and a picture of Ronald Regan. He put down his scotch and shuffled into the kitchen to find some tuna.

--o--

She didn't bother going home and instead headed directly to Chuck's. It was well past supper when she arrived. She avoided Casey's surveillance monitors and slipped into Chuck's bedroom. While it was still quite light outside it was almost pitch black inside his bedroom; only the smallest of light coming in from the window. Chuck was definitely asleep on the bed, laying shirtless on top of the covers.

She moved quietly to the side of the bed he was on. She couldn't help but reach out and brush her fingertips down his chest. He made a small "mmhhmm" noise and fell silent. She leaned to his ear and whispered his name, "Chuck" before shifting her head directly over top of his, watching for any signs of movement.

His eyelids fluttered open slowly. "Hi." He said drowsily, his eyelids never quite making it all the way open.

"I missed you today. You ok?"

"Mmmm. Just really tired." His voice almost slurring on the words. "Casey had me flash on some old documents I guess I'm out of practice. Took a lot out of me."

"I see that." She smiled. "Well if you can't wait up for me, I thought I would stop by for a goodnight kiss."

"I don't see how I can turn that down." He groggily replied as she leaned in.

She had intended it to be a soft kiss and a promise of things to come, just not tonight. She was caught off guard when his left hand pulled her head in close; his tongue snaking its way into her mouth to wrap itself around hers, teasing and testing it. While she hadn't been expecting it, she certainly welcomed it. At least she did until his right hand suddenly slipped under her shirt, working its way up to her breasts and gently began massaging one.

Her heart began beating faster, her body tingling with anticipation, but this wasn't what she had in mind. Not tonight. She pushed back against his chest, until he released her. His sleepy face puzzled by her reaction. "Not tonight. If we do this it's going to be with you awake and fully capable of everything I throw at you. Not that you fall asleep half way through." She chuckled. "You need to get some sleep and we'll see what tomorrow brings."

He merely stared at her eyes and nodded as if what she said was the most natural thing in the world. "Sleep. Tomorrow." He slurred.

She watched as he shut his eyes and drifted back to sleep. _He must be exhausted. Not that that wasn't interesting._ She smiled as she exited the room.

Once outside she had planned on heading home, but she decided to make one more stop.

Casey answered in his robe. "What."

"Don't give me that crap." She said as she pushed her way into his apartment. Where did you and Chuck go today and why?"

"Jealous?"

"Cut the bullshit Casey. I want to know where you took Chuck and why you have been avoiding me all day." She snapped.

"Tell you what Walker. I'll compromise. You tell why you were derelict in your duties and I'll tell you what Chuck and I did."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on now. You know your little sweet talk doesn't work on me. You should've told me that you weren't with Chuck all last week."

"He was fine."

"Don't give me that. I reviewed the surveillance on Sunday night. He sure as hell didn't sound fine and he said as much to Ellie." Sarah didn't respond.

"What the hell were you thinking Walker?"

"I fixed it. Everything is fine."

"Is it? Let me be clear, I'm sticking my neck out for the team...for you two. If you screw up you don't just burn yourself, your burn all of us." He emphasized by poking his index finger in her direction.

"I said it's _fixed_. It won't happen again." She said through clenched teeth.

"Oh you bet it won't." He growled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said warily.

"It means that if you have an argument with Chuck and fail to 'make up' _or_ tell me about it within 24 hours, I'll step in and resolve the issue personally and I can guarantee you won't like it."

"What makes you think that I'm going to talk to you about my personal life."

"You have a choice, you either tell me or you hit the road. Pick one."

Her eyelids tightened together slightly, her fists clenched. She didn't move. She didn't speak. In truth she didn't know what to do. He had effectively used her relationship with Chuck to do exactly what she was afraid of. Paint her into a corner. His way or the highway.

He squinted right back at her. "You know what? I'll make this easy for you. If you don't want to talk to me, then I suggest you find someone you can talk to about relationships. Just make sure you can trust them and it has to be someone that I approve."

She considered his proposition and suddenly relaxed. It could have been much worse. Her response was still aggressive as she spit out agreement. "Fine. I'll talk to Ellie."

Casey cocked an eyebrow and his grimace vanished. He breathed in deeply and exhaled loudly, he turned away from her, his shoulder slumped downwards as he walked to the liquor cabinet. _Well that was easy. _"Well, now that's settled, would you like a shot of scotch?"

Sarah was not impressed. She got the distinct feeling she had just been corralled into talking to Ellie more often. She thought it was a great idea; she just didn't like Casey being the one doing the pushing. She just couldn't prove that he did or could she? Going with her gut she took a chance on it. "You did that on purpose." She stated.

The stream of scotch stopped flowing for a moment as his hand froze. "So what if I did? Do you love Chuck any less or hate me any more for it?" His hand resumed pouring.

She stood by the door watching as he moved to sit in the chair. The words were so quiet he almost missed them as the door closed. "Thank you John."

He smiled. Maybe he should've chosen a slightly different path in life. He kind of liked manipulating people. She didn't even realize that he never did tell her where they went or what they did. Who knew playing matchmaker could be so entertaining.

--o--

Devon was putting the final touches on his patient. Only a few more stitches to go and he would be as good as new. It had been fortunate that they yanked that appendix before it blew. _Speaking of fortunate, _he thought.

"Trish, you worked with Ellie last night didn't you?" He paused while he waited for her to sponge away the excess blood from the area.

"Yep worked with her the last part of her double. Why, what's up?"

"Hmm, oh nothing. I was actually thinking of surprising after her shift."

"Wow, you're really getting into the swing of being a husband. I've got to tell you, we're pretty surprised."

"We?" he said, pausing from the stitching as he looked up at her.

"The staff her at the hospital. We just didn't think you had it in you to commit. I have to say you have really gown."

"Thanks, I think."

Trish laughed. "Don't take it the wrong way Devon. We were all rooting for you and Ellie. If anyone can get you over your commitment issues and turn you into a fine husband, it had to be her."

"I guess" he said, slightly confused as how they had gotten off the topic. "Anyway, I was saying I had wanted to surprise her after her shift last night but I must have missed her."

"Really? That's too bad. I thought I heard her talking to you earlier in the evening saying she was going to meet you right after her shift. I must've misheard."

Devon's hands shook slightly as he tied the knot in the stitches.

"Must've", he repeated quietly.

"You can try again tonight if you like. I'm sure Ellie would appreciate it." Trish laughed. "She was so tired last night she told me that the only way she was going to get through it was to stay focused on the important things in front of her. I wouldn't be surprised if she was so focused on getting to her car on the way out that she walked right by you."

Devon pulled off his gloves and tossed them in the garbage.

Trish didn't notice the odd lilt in his voice as he quietly replied, "If you'll excuse me, I need some air. Mind taking over the cleanup for me?"

Her voice was energetic and upbeat, completed unaware of Devon's somber mood. "No problem. I've got every under control here."

Devon nodded and headed out of the room muttering under his breath, "Apparently I haven't."

--o--

Her brain barely registered the clock, her eyes feel fuzzy and the time, 4:22am, is fading in and out of focus. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a little voice is telling her that she should have left by now. Unfortunately every other part of her body is screaming to stay. Her hands move involuntarily and make the decision for her by clamping down on his butt cheeks, nails digging in as she pulls him as deep as possible. Her breath comes in short gasps when his tongue is not trapped in her mouth.

Never before in her life has she felt like this. She is completely at his mercy as her body jumps from peak to peak, the vibrations never quite stopping, only slowing slightly between jumps.

She doesn't know when it started, but she knows it has been going on for some time and she is unable to stop. Time slows and the next blink the clock reads 5:07am before it fades from focus once more.

Coherent thought is difficult. She is completely and utterly drained. Sometime during their lovemaking she had begun crying softly. She hadn't even realized it until he slowed and asked what was wrong. She placed a shaky hand to her face tracing the lines of water back to her eyes. She didn't know how he had known in the dark, but at this point she didn't really care. "Please don't stop" she had whimpered. His pace resumed while softly kissing away the tears shortly before reaching his own peak for the 3rd time that morning.

The drugs kept him firm and energetic, but he had sensed her complete exhaustion and lay down beside her, keeping their bodies tightly entwined and still firmly buried in her as they drifted off to sleep.

Anxious but somewhat refreshed, she awoke in his arms a little while later; light leaking in through the blinds. Alarmed at the time, she slipped off of him and woke him just enough to steer him towards the shower. She needed to give herself enough time to collect her things and slip out into the morning light before the drugs wear off and he could really see her. It was fortunate that she had used a liquid resistant cover sheet for the bed the last two nights, or there would have been definitive evidence of something other than sleeping occurring in his bed. She gave the bed one last glance as she carefully packed away the cover sheet into her pack. The state of his blankets would be enough to make people wonder as it was.

She could hear the faint rustle of the shower as he turned it on. She let her mouth curl up into a small tired smile as she remembered Sarah's mission notes in the Doctor's files. Something along the lines of Chuck's resistance to follow orders. While under the influence of the drugs he seemed to follow instructions just fine. She couldn't help but think that it might be in his girlfriend's best interest to use the drugs on him as well; for various reasons of course.

With everything packed she gave one last scan of the room. Satisfied everything was good, she let herself out, resetting the intrusion devices as she left.

--o--


	10. My Life, Worst Day Part 1

A/N: The usual language warnings.

**Chapter 9**

**My Life, Worst Day: Part 1 **

"It's Director Graham sir." ...

"Yes sir. I wouldn't call if it wasn't important sir." ...

"I do sir." ...

"I am aware of that. I appreciate you responding so quickly sir." ...

"I was thinking about a BBQ this Sunday. Would you be interested?" ...

"Thank you sir." Director Graham hung up the phone.

Taking a deep breath he placed his head in his hands. He did not want to screw this up. He couldn't afford to. Billions upon billions of dollars invested and everything was so fubar'ed it wasn't even funny. Months of planning and work before receiving the go ahead and before he even had a chance to use it, he had to double back and clean up the mess Beckman had made. His superiors were not impressed.

That bitch Beckman was a piece of work; covering the angles just as fast as him, but from all the wrong sides. God damn terrorists and 911. Ever since the 'work together' agreement it was one fucking mess after another.

A lot was riding on this little portion; a tiny but crucial piece of a much larger puzzle. Most of the ground work was dependent on his top agent, but a lot more hinged on one nerdy civilian named Chuck. If Chuck didn't come through, it wouldn't matter what either agent did. Of course Chuck knew absolutely nothing of just how important he was and neither did the agents protecting him. The agents had only been told enough to get the ball rolling. Telling them everything would likely affect their decision making and he couldn't afford more complications. They weren't quite running as smoothly as he had hoped, but if his reports were accurate, they were progressing on an entirely predictable course.

He sighed, letting his body slump in the high back recliner, his head rolling to the right as his gaze focused on the bottom drawer of his desk. He reached into his drawer, pulling out a large bottle of Disarrono, spinning the top off with a click flick of his thumb, he poured himself a ½ cup's worth. Two gulps later and the empty cup sat back on the desk. He reached for the bottle again.

It was only a matter of time now. Waiting was always the worst part. Thank God he had more than one bottle in his drawer.

--o--

Mary didn't know how she made it to her hotel room with the bag. The quick nap she had at Chuck's rejuvenated her just long enough to get her out of his room and back to the hotel. Now that little bit of energy was gone and everything seemed to take a substantial effort on her part.

The day before she had been physically exhausted. Today she felt completely drained, mentally and physically. Her shoes already in her hand, the exhaustion conspiring to keep her off balance as her legs wobbled unsteadily, making navigation of the simplest hotel steps difficult. Somehow she reached her room, dropping the bag just inside the door while she headed to the bathroom for a quick cold shower to help cool off before lying down. Her eyes unconsciously noted the time, 7:27am, before they closed.

--o--

Casey heard the knock. Answering the door he was a little surprised to see Chuck. "Thought you would be sleeping."

"Nope." He held up his coffee mug. " I've got my coffee and I'm good to go." Chuck chirped merrily. "Besides, why would you think I was still sleeping?"

"Maybe because I almost had to carry you to bed last night at the decadently late hour of 7 pm", Casey growled.

Chuck appeared thoughtful for a moment, as if he was pondering something. "Yah, I've been a little off lately. I think I just need to get back in the swing of things and I'll be good."

"Let's go." Casey closed the apartment door and headed to the suburban. "Still doesn't explain why you're extra lively today."

"I dunno. Maybe because I'll get to see Sarah today."

Casey snorted and let the statement slide. He wasn't in the mood to debate their relationship. "You know what?" He prompted. "Maybe you'll stay quiet on the drive to work today and I'll let you ride shotgun." Chuck smiled and shrugged, as he pulled his hand across his mouth miming a zipper in motion.

Casey let the grimace drop; his mind still trying to find anything from the simulation video that might somehow connect Chuck to his abilities. He couldn't help thinking that either Chuck is totally oblivious to what's going on or he really is that much better of an agent than he could ever hope to be. It stung to admit that, but it was a possibility.

Starting the SUV, he watched Chuck fire up his iPod, an innocent smile plastered on his face. That's when Casey decided.

_Oblivious. _Casey smiled. Somehow he felt much better after making that decision.

--o--

Sarah slept in and awoke refreshed, the last remnants of a dream fading as her eyelids lifted. She didn't remember what it was about, but something about the dream had bothered her. That was when she remembered the events of yesterday, her eyes spotting the mini disc she got from the CIA's simulator trainer. Pushing the last pieces of the Chuck filled dream from her mind, she focused on the disc.

She had looked over the disk with Agent Vascuraz last night. Coupled with the information provided by the other CIA techs and his observations, it looked like she finally had proof that Chuck was able to access portions of the previous programming that predated the Intersect. At this point it time it seemed like Chuck wasn't entirely aware of what was going on, but that was something else for her to deal with.

Of course, that was on top of the information that Casey had and any conclusions he may try to form based on that piece of video data. What Casey didn't have, was the modified results. After a brief discussion with Agent Vascuraz on the updates he did to the simulation system after Chuck used it, he showed her how his scores should have looked on the last and only recorded run. Chuck had been beyond amazing, with a possible theoretical score substantially higher than anyone could think to achieve.

Things really got weird when the agent mentioned that only the timed rescue mission would have garnered stratospheric scores. The other mission runs were good, but contained only a few instances beyond the capability of the software. It was likely he would have scored much higher on those missions as well, but none reached the same level of ability as the rescue scenario.

Something had been bothering her about the simulations and it became clear when the agent described the missions Chuck ran in more detail. The last mission had carried an uncanny resemblance to her rescue by Chuck in the Nerd Herd car. She knew there was something missing from her observation but when she picked up the disc she didn't have time to analyze it further. Instead she tucked the information into the back of her mind before she had turned to deal with the agent. He was after all a loose end.

She had no intention of killing him; instead relying on her higher rank and its authority to have the data erased and given the only disc. While she commended him on his diligence in fixing an issue with the simulator she chastised him for unauthorized use of a simulator. It wasn't a toy to play with.

Furthermore, due to the sensitive nature of the analyst's work, she would not be making a formal reprimand report to her superiors on his actions, as it would be logged in the CIA database and could create a potential weak point to track the analyst's location. She made it abundantly clear he was to speak to no one about the results he saw and any software corrections were to be logged as entirely his own doing.

She knew she would have to report to the Director on this, but just wasn't sure how to proceed with the intel. It could put Chuck back on the fast track for a bunker in the middle of nowhere. She had to tread carefully.

At some point she was going to have to address this issue with both Chuck and Casey but she made a judgment call and decided it could wait until tomorrow.

Tonight would be all about Chuck. No doctors, no Casey, _no interruptions_. The heat in her loins started again and this time she decided to ride it out; no cold showers today. Well maybe afterward, but only if Chuck joined her. She was going to make this an evening he would never forget.

--o--

When Mary finally woke up the sun was already high in the sky and forcing its rays through the openings in the heavy curtains. Like a cat she performed a full body stretch but as she relaxed her face felt the cool wetness on her pillow. _Have I been drooling, _she wondered? A hand to her face traced the water to her eyes. _Crying._ Everything from the morning came flooding back into her conscious memory.

Something had bothered her about her last and final coupling with Chuck. She hadn't been able to put her finger on it as several emotions jumped into her thoughts at the same time, scrambling the coherent thinking. She fought to control her feelings and separate them from actual morning's events.

She took another shower to clear her head and placed a room service order for a fruit salad and juice as a light lunch.

She began unpacking her equipment bag while she waited for the food. The cover sheet was out first. The smell of sweat and sex permeated the air as she removed it from the bag. She found herself frozen, her eyes closed as she breathed deep; the musky odor stirring feelings of passion as it filled the air. Shaking herself, she tossed the sheet aside and focused on pulling out the rest of the equipment. Her hand paused when she pulled out the digital recorder. It held several key phrases she had used to manipulate Chuck. All computer created in Sarah's voice of course. That's when more memories began flooding her brain.

"_Are you ok?" He had gently asked._

"_Please don't stop.' She had replied._

Then again a short while later,

"_Chuck. You need to take a shower now please."_

"_Sure," came his groggy reply. But as he had slipped out of her and off the bed he had leaned back in the semi-dark room to whisper "I love you Sarah", placing a gentle kiss upon her lips._

"_I love you too" she replied._

She looked back down at the recorder a second time. _Oh fuck._ She had not used the Sarah's recorded voice near the end. Not when she told him to keep going, when she told him to take a shower, or when she told him she loved him. The only thing that had kept things in check had been the drugs and the darkness.

She bit down on her lip, stopping only when her tongue felt the metallic taste of blood. She hadn't meant to say any of that. Yet she did. She had been caught up in the moment, now she wasn't sure what she felt.

If she was lucky, he would remember none of it. Yet the thought of him not remembering did not make her happy at all. Instead it depressed her. She dropped the recorder onto the table, ignoring it as it bounced and clattered, its downward momentum allowing it to skid off the small table and on to the floor. She let herself drop into the chair beside the table.

This was not what she had expected or planned for.

Not at all.

--o--

Chuck was beat. It was nearing noon and his head was cradled in his arms at the Nerd Herd desk. He had attributed the previous day's lack of energy to the file reviews and corresponding flashes, but today he had done pretty much nothing and his energy had dwindled even faster. Maybe he was just getting old. After all, thirty was coming up fast. He knew he should be thankful that the Buy More had been slow and very few customers had needed the services of the Nerd Herd.

As legarthic and depressed as he was, his shining beacon of happiness was the approaching lunch time when he could see Sarah. It had been so long since spent any real time with her in person that he actually felt anxious and if the truth be told, a little self conscious. Every time he looked at her, he was amazed at her beauty, grace and her smile. The way her face and eyes lit up when she greeted him was more than worth every moment of anguish without her.

If only he didn't feel so damn tired. Then there was the whole lunch thing; the time when you are expected to eat. It didn't help that he wasn't hungry in the least. The thought of the approaching lunch time meal actually turned his stomach.

In an effort to quell his nausea he had crossed his arms and nestled his head into them in hopes of improving his mood and appetite with a light doze. He had just started to drift off; images of Sarah floating through his mind. He could almost feel her finger nails skim over his body setting off goose bumps where ever they went. The smell of her strawberry shampoo and the Coco, Chanel No. 5 perfume filled his nose. Then there was the kissing. Her ever soft lips moving randomly as they placed kisses all over his bod-.

"Chuck. Psst Chuck." The images of Sarah flitted away as he was pulled back from his day dream by Morgan's voice.

"Morgan." he growled sleepily.

"Chuck, are you all right? I mean what is going on with you? You didn't even return my calls yesterday."

"You called?" He asked in confusion.

Morgan looked affronted. "Yah. Yesterday morning. I left a message on the machine. I tried your cell but it was off. When I called later in the day Ellie said you weren't home. Gone for a day and not even a word to me, your best friend in the world. That's no way to treat your best buddy. Then there's that whole not coming in to work thing and you don't even tell _me_."

Chuck could tell Morgan had landed on a rambling streak and he was just too tired to jump in, deciding it best to let it run its course first.

"It's only your third day back at work and you've already had to skip a day. You're dead like a vampire when you wake up, are wired on a coffee high in the morning and like the walking dead by afternoon break. In short, your freaky."

"I'm freaky?" Chuck said pointing at himself his eyebrows shooting up with the tone of his voice.

"See, you do know what's going on! Yes. Your freaky. From Vamp to Energizer Bunny to Zombie." Morgan paused. "Buddy. Are you having problems with Sarah?

Chuck is a little slow to respond but when he does, he does so quite strongly. "What? No!" he said as he sat up. The imprints of his watch stand out on his right cheek. Standing, Chuck tries to walk away from the Nerd Herd desk in hopes of finding something to get Morgan off of his latest idiotic topic.

Morgan followed. "Then what is it? You're not taking drugs are you? Tell me it's not drugs."

Chuck did a double take, giving Morgan a 'what the hell are you talking about' look. Unfortunately as he turned to give Morgan the 'look', he stumbled into DVD case display knocking it down and falling face first into the shelving behind it.

"Woah, Chuck. Are you all right?"

He ignored Morgan, quickly realizing that he was not providing a very good response to Morgan's drug query. He tried a more direct verbal approach. "When would I be doing drugs Morgan? And for that matter, who would be supplying me? Sarah? Buddy you're just jumping to conclusions. I'm still just a little run down from the accident. That's all."

"Chuck. Be straight with me. I know druggies lie about this. I watch Jerry Springer and Cops. I know things can feel like their spinning out of control...but man your life isn't worth ruining. You have a great family, a great girl. I'll even go to rehab with you. Maybe we'll see Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears." He put a hand on Chuck's shoulder while giving him a sad understanding look.

"Damn it Morgan, I'm not on drugs, now will you-"

"What's this? Hey Jeff did you hear that? Chuck's addicted to drugs." Lester exclaimed to Jeff as they both walked up behind Morgan.

"I bet it's the painkillers from the hospital. They just suck you in like little white devils", says Jeff.

Being distracted, no one noticed Big Mikes arrival, but they did hear him when he spoke. "No one's taking drugs in my store. Alcohol I can stand but druggies got to go." Big Mike stormed.

Chuck started, "Big Mike it's all a misunderstand-"

Cutting Chuck off, "So who is it? Fess up or the lot of you go." He emphasized his words by swinging his large index finger over each of them.

Lester and Jeff immediately point to Chuck. Everyone present notices Chuck's nose has suddenly started to bleed.

Morgan whispered conspiratorially, "Don't worry buddy, I'll help you through this." Unfortunately he is standing next to Big Mike as he talks and Big Mike takes an immediate interest, turning to watch Morgan whisper to Chuck.

Jeff says to no one in particular. "I bet he's mixing it with cocaine. I heard it makes your nose bleed."

Chuck's eyes are bulging out, his teeth are clenched as he reaches for Morgan's throat, "Morgan, what have you-"

Big Mike grabbed Chucks arm in mid reach, "Bartowski. I would've thought you better than that. First you're taking drugs now you're taking it out on your best friend who is only trying to help. I've seen enough. I have no choice but to suspend you until you're test results come back. Grimes take him home after Lester has him urinate in a cup."

"What!" Chuck yelped.

Lester smirks, "Yep, that's right Chuckster. While you were gone, I was put in charge of the new corporate drug testing program. You're going to pee in a cup for me."

Chuck stares at Lester with his mouth open.

"Oh don't worry Chuck. Lester here will call to have them pick it up. We get the results in 24 hours." Said Jeff.

"_I _get the results in 24 hours." Lester corrected.

"Sorry Lester. _I_ get...no wait, that's not right-", Jeff said before getting cut off by Big Mike.

"Will you two numb skulls shut the hell up. Lester, get a sample bottle for Chuck and escort him to the washroom to fill it." Big Mike turned to Jeff next just as Jeff opens his mouth. "And for the final time you are not allowed to watch for sample tampering, from _inside the stall_."

Big Mike rotated to look at everyone this time. "Fair warning for you bums. If I hear anything about drugs and I do mean _anything_ that could be construed as talking about a drug, OR any talking, blogging, banner, text, or similar means of messaging about an employee at _my _Buy More taking drugs, not only will I fire the lot of you, I will have the store sue you personally for defamation and loss of sales. Am I clear!"

"Yes sir" the staff cried in unison.

"Well don't just stand there get moving."

Lester can be overheard as he moved towards the bathroom. "Can he do that? Sue us I mean."

Jeff answered, "He's Big Mike and were his bitches. He can do whatever he wants and no one will stop him."

Lester's eyes widen slightly as he casts a fearful glance over his shoulder at the retreating Big Mike.

Chuck is still standing where everyone left him. Morgan can't remember the last time he saw Chuck clench his teeth so tightly or see that vein in his neck stand out so predominately. Chuck appears to be trying to speak but his teeth are so tightly clenched Morgan can't make out anything more than some strangled noises.

"Come on buddy. It's ok. I'll take you home right afterward and get you some help. We'll get a Kleenex for that nose bleed of yours too."

He grabs Chuck by the arm and pulls the stunned Chuck towards the bathroom. "Hey, look at the bright side, you'll be home by lunch."

--o--

Sarah looked at her watch. Its 12:10pm and no sign of Chuck. She shrugged and kept herself busy with the lunch crowd. By 1pm she is a little annoyed that he hasn't come by yet. At 1:30 she is worried and about to take her break and go over to see him, but before she can, Morgan enters and heads straight for her.

"Hey Morgan."

"Hey Sarah."

"Do you know if Chuck is busy? I was expecting him to come over for lunch."

"Oh yah, that's kinda why I'm here. Well that and lunch. He had to head home and take care of some _personal stuff_. I'm supposed to meet him after work to help with his uhhhh _personal stuff._"

Sarah raised her eyebrows. "Personal stuff?

"Yep, personal stuff."

"Is...he ok?" She tentatively asked.

"Oh yah, he's totally fine. Isn't he?" He leaned forward expectantly, like a child sharing a secret.

"Uhh, I asked you Morgan."

He straightened back up. "Right. Right. I just thought you might know something that I don't."

Her head tilted slightly to the side and her eyebrows dropped low as she tried to figure out what Morgan was talking about.

"Anyway, I'll take one of your gourmet's to go please."

"Sure." Sarah turned to the fryer to pull a hot dog for Morgan.

"So...Sarah...Chuck comes in her every day when he's at work?" Sarah paused as she picked up the hot dog. "Yep, when he can anyway. I mean some days he's too busy." She turned and handed him the dog.

"Too busy. Right." He said as he stared at her intently.

"Are you sure everything is ok Morgan?"

"Yah. Yah sure. I'm fine. Chuck's fine. Everyone's fine. Juuuussst fine." He took the hot dog and stared at her. She stared right back.

He shook his head slightly, "How much do I owe you."

"You know what, I had one saved for Chuck and since he's not here to collect we'll just call it even. No charge."

"Okkkk..." he said slowly, his eyes squinting slightly before suddenly popping open to stare at her wide eyed. "Uh, yah, I've got to get back now." He said as he turned and ran out of the store carrying the hot dog.

Sarah stared after him. Sometimes it was really hard to like Morgan. He was just too ...'Morgan'. Then there was other times when he was a little too strange. _This was one of those times_, she thought as she pulled out her phone to call Casey.

--o--


	11. My Life, Worst Day Part 2

_A/N: Usual warnings apply to language and sexual content. Chuck will use abilities learned/found in previous story Chuck vs The Doctor. If you have not read it, I suggest you do so, otherwise the chapter will seem a little weird during memory recall._

**Chapter 10**

**My Life, Worst Day: Part 2**

Back at the store Casey caught Morgan on his way back in. "Morgan, where's Bartowski?"

"He uhh, has some personal issues to take care of."

"Personal issues. What the hell does that mean?" Casey glanced down at the corn dog in Morgan's hand and he placed his hand over Morgan's, slowly squeezing it.

"Uh, John. That's kind of invading my personal space", Morgan says, his voice rising as he speaks.

Casey ignored him, but began to gently squeeze down on the hand holding the hot dog. "He didn't skip out of work to see the wiener girl did he?" He growled menacingly.

"No. Of course not. Besides, I just came back from lunch and Sarah was at work. She actually asked if Chuck was ok."

"And what did you tell her." Hi hand slowly tightening its grip further.

Morgan was slowly dropping to his knees. "The same thing I'm telling you. He had some personal stuff to take care of and I was supposed to go over after work and help with it. Chuck felt it was a private matter between us buddies."

"Yah. Buddies." Casey snorted as his phone rang. Looking at it, he answered, letting go of Morgan before turning to walk away into the isles to speak.

"Grump", Morgan mumbled after the receding agent.

Looking towards the front of the store Morgan began speaking under his breath. "Don't you worry buddy. I'll help you figure out what's wrong. The 'One ring' won't take you while I'm on watch. In the mean time we'll have to figure out who is passing you the goods and I think I might know who." He held the hot dog in front of him at arm's length, eyeing it as if it was a snake.

--o--

Casey pushed the door open. The Wienerlicious was empty save for its sole employee at the moment. Sarah was cleaning the counter when he walked in but stopped upon his arrival.

Not one for small talk he started right in, "What's up that you needed to see me?"

"Morgan came in earlier and said Chuck went home for personal reasons."

"That's the same line I got from him at the Buy More."

"You think something's up?"

"Oh, I know something is up. The staff are acting weird when I talk about Chuck."

Sarah frowned. "What do you mean weird?"

"I mention Chuck's name and they all say he had to leave for 'personal reasons', then turn and run. In Lester and Jeff's case, literally."

You think he's ok?"

"What I think is that you should give your boyfriend a call to check on him."

He waited while she pulled out her phone and dialled Chuck."

"Chuck. Is everything all right? Morgan said you left work early."...

"You sound distracted. Are you sick?" ...

"_You know you can tell me anything Chuck. Anything_." ...

"Ok, we'll talk later." ...

She hung up the phone, obviously concerned but not so much that she panicked.

"Well?"

"You heard me give the code phrase. He gave the all clear code. He said he had some personal stuff to take care of. He sounded a little disoriented or distracted and a little winded but that could be just Chuck running for the phone while playing the 360."

Casey growled. "Fine. After work I'll check the surveillance. I'll let you know if I find anything." He turned to leave but she grabbed his arm.

"Casey, I plan on stopping by tonight. Probably after supper." Her stare was intense.

He raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms waiting for the rest of her story. "And?"

"And I'll take him to work in the morning, _after we have breakfast._ I'd appreciate it if you weren't too hands on with the surveillance tonight."

Casey smirked. "Let me know when you arrive. I wouldn't want to accidentally catch anything. The sound of it would probably give me nightmares for a week." He turned and left without another word.

--o--

Chuck sat on the living room couch staring at the blank TV. He didn't need to turn it on for entertainment. His life of late had been all the soap opera he could handle. He sighed.

This day freaking sucked. Matter of fact the last week and a half blew chunks. Everything he did or touched seemed to turn to dust. Running the down the list of his recent failures over in his mind he organized them into a sequence of what he like to call Chuck Fuck Up events or CFU's for short. It was kind of like his own personal version of Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition or FUBAR for short. Not all of them were exactly his fault or even in his control, but he felt obligated to list them as they helped turn his life to ...well...to shit. Not wanting it caught on Casey's surveillance recordings he rattled off the latest CFU's highlights in his head.

_Mis-communication with Sarah leads to a lost week of spending time with her. Check. _

_Got drafted into doing extra Intersect work with Casey and without Sarah. Check._

_Felt physically fantastic one second, then drop dead tired the next. Check. _

_Almost no appetite and as emotionally unstable as a pregnant woman on hormones. Check. _

_Can't stop from imagining sex with Sarah yet can't carry through in real world. Check._

_When brain stops thinking of sex with Sarah on its own, it wallows in self pity and loathing worse than when Jill screwed Bryce. Check-a-roonie. _

_And the mother of all CFU's today was, to borrow a line from Casey, the fan-f'ing-tasic news that he had been booted from the Buy More for drug abuse._ _Check-a-fucking-roonie._

The last CFU on the list was his life in a nutshell. What a cockamamie story. At least that would be straightened out tomorrow after the test. There was no way they were going to find drugs in his urine and he would be back at the Buy More, while Lester, Jeff and the rest of them would have egg on their collective faces.

Now if he could only score a little bit of luck and have Sarah arrive at the same time as Morgan, maybe she could shoo him away, just this once.He smiled. At least that picked up his spirits a little. It wasn't the shoo'ing that made him happier, it was what he was expecting after the shoo'ing had taken place.

With his thoughts a little calmer, he had tried to pass the time by dozing on the couch in hopes that the more sleep he got the better he would feel when Sarah got here. Unfortunately every time he drifted off he dreamt of Sarah. Her touch, her hair, her kisses. Each and every time he woke up he wanted her so bad it hurt. Some parts of his anatomy hurting more than others.

Speaking of hurt, his headache was coming back. He sighed and pulled himself off of the couch to get a couple of the Ultra Migraine Strength Tylenol. Telling Sarah he had a headache was the last thing he wanted to do tonight.

A glass of water later and loaded up with the super Tylenol he went into his bedroom.

Standing at the base of his bed he looked for things to do. As a sudden wave of depression settled in he found himself doing a slow spin, starting with the closet that he had wanted to clean up and organize. _Not today. _

A slight turn to the right had his eyes passing the window and locking on his iPod. _Outside. Nope. _

_Music?_ He was not in the mood for anything upbeat or exciting and the thought of slow, sad songs did not thrill him and would just lead to a deeper depression. _ Music's out. _

His eyes landed on his bedroom tv and 360 before flicking over to the computer. _TV, movies and game playing? Ugh. Either too close to the depression of the music or no interest in any of it._

Turning a little bit more he found himself facing his bedroom door or the bed. The living room held no draw for him but the bed had the slightest hint of allure. That was something he knew he could do. Not like he wasn't doing it on the couch barely ten minutes earlier. Maybe the bed would offer that little bit of extra comfort needed to allow him to slip into a deeper sleep. One in which he didn't wake up with a hard on every five minutes.

With the stress of the last several days, the excessive tiredness, appetite loss and his stint back at both jobs; maybe he just needed the rest. The pills still hadn't kicked and the headache was working wonders on his eyes, forcing sleep by default. _Bed it is._

Chuck closed his eyes and let himself fall forward onto his bed. Rolling over onto his back he put his hands behind his head, elbows pointing out. Keeping his eyes closed, he let the exhaustion pull him into the depths of sleep. In his downward spiral into darkness, he could feel his thoughts drift to Sarah. He didn't fight them. He just let them come as he slipped deeper. Her eyes. Her smile. Her laugh was the last one he remembered before the darkness took him.

--o--

Mary didn't know exactly how or when it happened but she had figured out what it was. He had a quality about him that was present in his lovemaking that she had never experienced before. It was love. He was totally in love with Sarah Walker and it showed in every action of his life, even in bed. She had been given a brief insight into what it was to truly love someone, during their most intimate time together. In another time another place, she might have even been that someone.

Unfortunately for her, she knew without a doubt, she had stolen and corrupted something of his; _no, theirs, _by her selfish actions. The tears signifying something her unconscious already knew.

It was had become clear to her what the unconscious part of her mind had realized when she replayed the sex from early that morning once more. The key had been when he had finally stopped and lay beside her whispering "I love you, Sarah" before they both fell asleep, her in his arms.

It was the memory of those few words; knowing that they were not meant for her. The pain in her chest burst forth like water from a dam, the deep heart wrenching sobs echoing in the empty room.

--o--

_Chuck floated over his body, currently tied to a very plush chair. He knew this. It was the room he had been held in by the Doctor a few weeks back. Confused he floated in front of himself. He was bent over, his head down, eyes closed._

_He floated closer, reaching a hand out to touch his body when he felt a familiar_ _rush that set his skin to tingling. _

_He blinked and he was in the chair, his thoughts not quite his own as he remembered events from weeks past._

_--_

_The hotel room. Darkness? No. Dark it may be to his eyes, but there is an absolutely wonderful smell in his nose, then a soft touch. The memory pieces coalesce into a complete one. He is repositioning himself into the spoon position on his side with someone who smells like Sarah sliding into place in front in front of him. The memory is of touch and smell, not once did he open his eyes before drifting back to sleep__**.**_ _Feeling her moving away, then moving back to his side, again in darkness._

_--_

_The hotel stairs. The kiss and more importantly her willingness in extending it...until Casey caught them._

_--_

_The car ride home from the mission. Her admission of feelings for him in the car._

_--_

_The celebration at the restaurant. Her radiant smile when he came back from the restroom, then the sloppy wet French kiss she gave him at the table in front of everyone, including Casey._

_--_

_His excruciatingly long walk back to the restaurant table, his eyes focused on her mouth as she seductively sucked the thick white icing off of her index finger._

_--_

A sudden shift occurs; passing thoughts flit by. _I'm remembering while I'm dreaming_. His mind answers and acknowledges his thoughts as correct, before the dream continues its journey.

_--_

_He's standing the room where Sarah and Casey finally found him. His grasp on her arm. The soft kiss he gave her; a bestowal of his love, without expectation or fear. Her acceptance of the kiss and its meaning._

_--_

_The room is dark, his nose is filled with her perfume. His vision between blinks is strangely unfocused and dark, sensing more than seeing flashes of blond hair, as it slowly moves out of sight down his body. The feel of a hot mouth engulfing him and-. The sudden flash of pain in his temples is instant and sharp, forcing the memory to fade._

_--_

_A breath later and the dream settles but the memory has moved on. The perfume is still in the air, the soft touch of a hand is slowly tracing its way down his chest, across his abdomen and over **him** pausing at the base of his firm appendage._

_--_

_He is in a bed, slightly inclined, Sarah's hair flows across his chest. A soft kiss is shared and a frisky Sarah nibbles on his ear._

_--_

_The dream moves again, and he's at the dining room table at home, Sarah seated in his lap. His coffee in his right hand held out in the middle of the air, his left hand is under her shirt undoing her bra. The straining between his legs is matched only by the wet heat emanating through her panties while their tongues are in a battle for control of each other's mouth._

_--_

_The memories fade and the dream seems to slide sideways before becoming dark once more. _

_--_

_The feel of hair brushes his face, Sarah's voice whispers in his ears, her hands floating across his body, her mouth is warm, but her womanhood is hot as it engulfs him and sends waves of – PAIN! His head feels like it is going to explode as memories flash like strobe lights. A hand, a breast, a mouth, the movement of two bodies as one. The breathing, the tongues...the heat and release. Each image carrying a jolt of pain. _

_Then a voice. A voice that is not Sarah's._ _"Please don't stop." A feeling of contentment from the memory, as pressure released and sleep had ensued. The pain following is anything but fulfilling or content as his head rebels from the inside. Another flash and the sound of words, "I love you." Words that are most definitely not Sarah's. The pain is excruciating bringing blackness with it.  
_

_--_

Dazed, his eyes unseeing Chuck finds himself sitting upright in bed, the sweat running into his eyes, stinging them. His head felt like it had been used as a basketball at an All-Star game. His eyelids blinked rapidly as he tried to remember what happened. _What the fuck was that?_

His chest hurt, and it took him a second to realize he had been holding his breath, letting it out in a burst before pulling in deep shaky breaths. Putting his hands on the mattress he pushed forward until his legs were hanging over the bottom of the bed. Dropping his head forward into his hands he waited for the pain to recede.

His throat was uncomfortably dry and he expended the effort to resolve that by heading to the kitchen for water. Standing, he quickly realized that his body had other ideas as a wave of nausea swept over him, his eyes widening in disbelief as he ran for the bathroom.

Moments later he flushed and stumbled up to grab the vanity counter. Rinsing his mouth he paused mid action, his hand half way to his mouth as he scooped water from the tap to splash on his face. His hair was matted with sweat, his face was pale and sickly. Dark puffy circles sat under his eyes giving one the instant impression he hadn't slept in ages.

Staggering backwards, he moved towards the kitchen, his mind reeling at the image of his face superimposed on the dream sequences he had awoken to. _Were they real?_ Some he knew, he remembered. Others he didn't and they were painful.

He pulled some cold water from the fridge as he tried to think of what he saw. There was no reference to go on.

Leaning forward on the counter he tried to pull the memories again, but his head felt fuzzy and jumbled.

_A shower._ A shower always helped make him feel better and might go a long way to clearing the cotton from his head.

Moments later the shower ran over him, his mind clearing as he thought it might. He tried to analyze his dreams. He knew that the ability he had discovered at the facility explained some of his memory dreams, but not the new painful ones.

Then again for all he knew it was some kind of weird delusional dream sandwiched around real memories. Whatever it was it didn't fit with the memories of Sarah very well, as it caused a fair amount of pain.

There was one thing he did recognize from the new nightmare dreams, and that was the voice of the person speaking. If it was real, he was in real trouble. He just needed to figure out how to find out the truth.

No one would be able to confirm his memories unless they were there and he didn't remember anyone else...

Chuck slapped the taps off, and jumped from the shower grabbing a towel as he ran to his room. He knew one person that might have been there. Figuratively, of course.

--o--

Anna walked into the back stock room, finding Morgan, of all places, inside the 'cage'. It was definitely not on his top ten lists of places to be and it surprised her to find him there. Walking up behind him she noted that his head was down, his back to the chain link door, his focus on something on the bench in front of him.

"Morgan."

He jumped of the chair, spinning and falling against the bench, his face white as he held himself up by spreading his arms out the length of the bench. "Anna, baby. Do not do that! Can't you see I'm working here."

She leaned around to see behind him. "What are you doing Morgan?"

Morgan paused as if to evaluate her for a moment, before pushing his bottom lip up into his top one and nodding confidently. He motioned her to come closer.

Laying behind him was a Weinerlicious corn dog fully dissected. A small art scalpel laying beside it.

"Are you eating lunch?" Anna said.

"No hon-bun." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm checking for hidden packages."

"In a corn dog?"

"Not just any corn dog. This is a Weinerlicious _Gourmet hot dog_."

"Ok, Morgan. I'll _bite_. You do know it's just a name, right? What do you expect to find in the _Weinerlicious Gourmet_ hot dog? Money?"

"More like powdered money, if you know what I mean." He emphasised it by holding one side of his nose and sniffing.

Her face flattened of all emotion. "Morgan. There are no drugs in there."

Panicked, "Shhhhh!! If Big Mike hears he will fire us. Besides, how do you know it's not cooked into the thing?"

"Fine. Lets test that shall we." She pushed him out of the way.

"Honey. What are you doing?" His voice full of concern.

She scooped up the dissected dog and stuffed it in her mouth, forcing her cheeks to pop out like a chipmunk.

"Noooo" he yelled as he jumped at her.

Anna sidestepped his advance and tripped him, forcing him face down to the ground before she knelt on his back while she finished chewing.

A minute or so later she let him up. "See Morgan. No problem." She opened her now empty mouth and stuck out her tongue.

He stared at her, tears welling in his eyes before he jumped forward to pull her into a big hug. "You're so brave my little Anna bear."

Shocked by his hug, she nonetheless returned it, a small smile of appreciation on her face.

"Anna dear."

"Yes Morgan."

"If you get high off of the dog, can we still have sex?"

Disengaging herself from the hug she pushed him backwards, watching as he stumbled and fell on his butt. "Morgan, sometimes you're a pig." She pursed her lips and turned to walk away.

"What? Come on honey. Don't be like that. It's not like I'm asking you to take drugs. I'm just kinda running with what's already in play. Anna? Honey?" Morgan moved to follow her.

--o--


	12. My Life, Worst Day Part 3

_A/N: Language warning. I should just make a standard disclaimer for sex and language. Uh...but no sex in this one and language...maybe._

**Chapter 11**

**My Life, Worst Day: Part 3**

Chuck yanked a clean shirt and pair of pants out of the closet. Throwing the shirt on, and pulling the pants over his still wet skin proved slightly difficult, but he didn't seem to notice as his mind worked overtime on bigger issues.

He knew Casey would be able to tell him if someone else was in his room. He just wasn't sure if he wanted him to know why he was asking.

He couldn't exactly tell Sarah. Not until he knew for sure and even if he did find out, he had no idea how to bring that up in casual conversation. He didn't know if he could face her. _No. He knew_ he couldn't face her. He was having trouble looking himself in the mirror right now. There was no way he could handle staring into her eyes.

He wasn't going to tell Ellie, as that was even worse. He would end up getting her involved in the whole spy world and that was the last thing he wanted.

No, he decided he would go talk to Casey first then fill him in on a need to know basis. His lips curled inward and he bit down. He had a feeling that Casey might be a little _demanding_ when it came to _needing_ to know.

Looking at the clock he figured Casey would be home from work by now. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of his window and headed over.

He knocked twice, his hand barely leaving the door when it flew open to reveal Casey's grumpy face. "Uhh...hey Casey."

Casey looked him up and down, taking in the sallow complexion, the matted hair and the damp clothes. "You look like shit Bartowski."

"Thanks, I guess I look like I feel then."

"What do you want?"

Still unsure of how to break the ice, he tried small talk. "Hey...big guy. Uh, you were pretty fast with that door. Expecting someone?"

Casey was already walking back to his easy chair, leaving Chuck to walk in and close the door. "Yah, you knucklehead. I could hear you mumbling to yourself and running around the apartment like a lunatic since I got home. I figured you would be over soon."

Chuck paused in the hallway looking confused he asked, "Why's that?" A small spark of fear was germinating in the fact that Casey might already know what he had just figured out.

Casey grunted and turned to Chuck. "If you had a normal problem, you would either ask your sister or Walker. Since you didn't call either one, it was just a matter of time before getting up the guts to ask me. Besides you look like you just swallowed the neighbor's dog."

"When did they get a ...oh. Right. A figure of speech."

Casey's growled slightly as he emphasized his next words slowly, "Bartowski. Reason. Here?"

"Umm...yah, about that." _Does he know? He doesn't seem to act like it, but then again, he is an agent tried to lie and hide it._

"Just spit it out, I don't have all day. While you're at it, you might as well go over the fact that you left work early for _personal reasons. Without _notifying me or Walker._" _

"Yah. Work. Maybe we can talk about that after." Chuck wasn't any more enthusiastic about that topic then the one he was already trying to broach with Casey.

"Bartowski, this was going to be my only day off this week and I had to go in to make up for yesterday. Now I'm still stuck doing surveillance on you, while Walker is on shift at that wiener hole." He neglected to tell Chuck of Sarah's plans for the evening. They were a 'need to know' and he didn't need to know right now as he would find out soon enough. "Matter of fact, why don't you go hang out at her work. I'm sure she would like that and I could get some down time." He pointedly looked at his easy chair and the small table beside it holding an open can of tuna, a bottle of Scotch, a book of War and Peace and a picture of Ronald Regan.

Chuck's upper lip curled up showing his teeth, his head leaning slightly back. "Okayyyy." Looking back at Casey, he tried to swallow the rock in his throat. He could feel the sweat running down his back; the headache and nausea sat like coiled snakes waiting to spring.

"Hey Casey, you know when you insinuate that Sarah is spending time _with me._ Casey looked at him with raised eyebrows before turning to the kitchen, grabbing a glass off of the counter on his way to the chair. "You mean when Walker is working you over in a prone position? Don't worry. I have a don't ask, don't tell policy on that with you two. No need to get your panties in a knot." Casey poured a glass of Scotch and raised it for a swallow.

Chuck attempted to clear his throat of the lump once more. "Being that you have surveillance on the place, you know that we haven't...haven't done anything yet. Right?"

He paused before the glass made it to his lips. "What the hell are you talking about Chuck? If you think you're going to pretend you're not having sex with her, I'm not buying that." Chuck looked away, unable to meet Casey's stare as he spoke. Casey's glass began moving upwards to his lips.

Chuck coughed slightly. "That's just it Casey. I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything _with _Sarah."

Catching the suspicious nature of Chuck's wording, Casey choked on his drink a little before lowering his glass, setting it on the table to advance on Chuck. His response is surprisingly venomous, even to his own ears. "What the hell are you saying? You screwed around behind Walker's back?"

Chuck is shocked by Casey's attitude and choice of words, but stumbles out an answer with Casey in his face. "What! No! Well maybe. I don't know! I'm confused and it's hard to think lately."

"Are you playing with all your marbles?" He drove the point home by poking Chuck's chest as he spoke. "Walker will eat you for breakfast if she finds out you are doing someone else _too_."

Chuck is still trying to catch up with the conversation. Somewhere along the way he fell behind and it's not going in the direction he wants it to. "Wait. What? I'm not sleeping with Sarah."

"Holy shit Chuck! You mean your stepping out on her because she's not moving fast enough for you? You've got balls keeping her chomping at the bit like that. You better hope she doesn't rip them off when I tell her."

Chuck unconsciously placed his hand near his groin. "Casey no. You've got it all wrong. I don't know exactly who I've been sleeping with."

His choice of words seemed all wrong as Casey became even more aggravated, almost spitting the words through his teeth. "What the hell! So now you're telling me you snuck in some hooker for some quick sex! That's pretty god damn low. I expected better from you." Casey squinted and his upper lip lifted in a little growl. "Or was it that you figured I was lax at my job; could just do it under my nose? Get the better of ole' Casey?" Not waiting for a response, he kept at Chuck, "Smart ass punks nowadays." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his phone to hit speed dial.

Chuck is becoming a little more frantic and wide eyed but is unable to interrupt Casey as he is menacingly close to him.

"Chuck you sit your ass down before I stick my foot in it.

"Casey..."

Casey growled loudly. "SIT!" The phone call he placed was picked up on the other end as he spoke in a dull growl. "We have a problem. Get over here." He paused while listening to a response before growling again, "No it's not that. He's fine...for now." Casey's eyes flicked over to Chuck. "Just get over here as soon as you can."

"Now Bartowski, I suggest you fess up mighty fast before Walker gets here."

If Chuck looked nervous and scared before, it was as if a switch was flipped and his nostrils flared, his visage becoming one of anger. "Sarah's coming here? Now?" He lurched from the chair and back towards Casey until he was inches from his face. "I came here to get help from you and all you did was make it worse! I needed to figure out what happened _before _I tell her."

Casey is quite surprised at Chuck's sudden aggressive attitude, but it didn't stop him from catching the oddity of the sentence. "What do you mean 'figure out what happened'? You can't be that inexperienced that you don't know sex when you have it."

Chuck deflated slightly, his voice shifting from angry to frustrated and confused. Speaking quickly to get the facts out, he began. "That's just it Casey. I know I had sex but I don't know with whom. The last thing I remember is that I was extremely tired and went to bed early. I've had some _very _erotic dreams the last few days." He glanced sideways at Casey, as if to determine how much he should say, then continued. "Dreams about Sarah and _only Sarah_." Their eyes met as Chuck finished the sentence. Casey couldn't help but see the conviction behind the eyes.

Chuck began to pace the apartment. "It started Monday morning. I was so out of it Morgan came over to get me up out of bed. That's why I was late for work on Monday. I was totally exhausted. It has been happening the last three days."

"So you're saying somebody screwed your ass off for three nights in a row and you don't know who?"

"Tact is not one of your stronger suits, but yes, I'd say that's about right." He started a another pass through the apartment.

"Well than I'd say kiss your ass goodbye, because Walker's not going buy that load any more than I do."

He stopped to spin towards Casey, taking a step in his direction, arms out in front, palms up, shaking them as he spoke, as if presenting something solid to him. "What! No Casey, you have to believe me. She would've had to drug me or something. Right? You can't just sleep sex a person for hours at a time. Isn't there some kind of test we can do? Maybe a blood test or something!"

Casey looked him over. The desperation was heavy in his voice. Casey got that bad feeling in his gut. The one that said things aren't going to go well. The problem was that he wasn't sure if the feeling was about Walker finding out about someone else doing Chuck or if the feeling was about him telling the truth. "Alright Chuck. I will arrange for some tests but I hope for your sake you were imagining it. I will pull the footage for those days to check them over again."

Chuck let slip a small sigh of relief. He might not always get along with Casey, but he did his job well.

Casey pulled out his cell phone and placed a call to one of the local special op contact doctors for a quick house call. "Agent Casey here. We need your services for a couple of quick tests." Casey monitored Chuck out of the corner of his eye while he provided the address and details of the tests. As he watched Chuck, his gut feeling got worse and it had a definite lean towards Chuck telling the truth about the last few nights.

Chuck was always bumbling and goodhearted. The young man standing a few feet from him would never be recognized as Chuck based on his current attitude. It was as if someone had replaced _their _Chuck with a depressed version.

While he talked to the doctor, he caught Chuck in his peripheral vision as he dropped into the vacant easy chair, grabbing the unfinished glass of Scotch he had been drinking before Chuck arrived. Chuck never batted an eye as he swallowed the liquid straight up.

As Casey finished up on the call, he became increasingly worried about Chuck's state of mind as he watched him pour more Scotch into the glass, spilling everywhere, unable to stop his hand from shaking.

Casey let himself tone down the aggression to handle Chuck in a more reasonable manner. Hanging up the phone he spoke immediately, "Chuck, you need to go easy on that. The doctor is on his way." He quietly stepped over to the chair and appropriated the bottle before Chuck could pour a 5th glass. The 40 oz bottle was almost empty by then. It had started near full and he never used small glasses. Casey put the bottle back in the cupboard, out of sight. "I'm going to pull the tapes from Mon-Wed. You can help me identify anything strange."

Chuck was already a little despondent but nodded yes.

Casey walked to the computer station and turned on the LCD. It only took a few seconds to scroll to Monday night. "Ok, the software will automatically scan from Monday early AM to this morning when you got up. It will stop when it hears noise. We'll check it and if it's nothing, we tell the software to keep going. Shouldn't take more than a minute or two."

Chuck nodded and Casey pressed the auto scan button. While they waited Casey watched Chuck. His trained agent eyes taking in Chucks disheveled appearance, his shaking hands, his wide eyes and his pupils. The eyes were especially telling but he couldn't quite-" His train of thought was interrupted as the software finished its scan. Nothing found. His ire started to raise again but he pushed it back down when he looked back at Chuck.

"Casey what does that mean? It didn't find anything?" The fear in his voice was poignant. If Casey didn't know any better he would swear Chuck was going to start crying.

Casey ignored it. "The auto scan isn't fool proof." He wasn't sure if it was better to find something or not. "Chuck you said you were really tired on those days. Do you remember what time you went to bed."

Chuck thought for a moment. "Yah, about 9pm or so."

Casey started the recording at 11:30pm Monday night and turned on the external speakers. The room was quiet save for Chuck's breathing. Manually jumping forward you could hear his cell ring shortly before midnight. Chuck's voice could be heard as he answered the call.

"Hello," came the sleepy answer. "Sarah? What time is it? He paused.

"Sure I do." His voice suddenly sounded much more awake and upbeat.

"Yah. Yah, that would be great." He was obviously excited now.

A sarcastic, "Thanks." Followed by a quiet, "Good night Sarah." You could almost hear a sigh of contentment as he hung up the phone and placed it back on the nightstand before he settled back into bed.

Casey waited a moment or two before skipping ahead. Chuck could be heard breathing steadily as he slept. Casey waited a few more seconds before skipping ahead a few more minutes until he was greeted by what sounded like Chuck shifting in bed.

When he jumped to shortly after 12pm, he knew something was wrong. The sound was a flat hiss. There was no signs of breathing, moving or anything else for that matter. "What the hell?"

He forwarded to 1 am, then 2, then 4, then back to 3am, and finally back to 2:30. Fiddling with the controls he ended up at 2:25am. "Damn it." Casey hissed under his breath.

He turned to look at Chuck. Chuck looked like he was well on his way to drunk. The Scotch Chuck had sucked back in the 5 minutes he had been on the phone were starting to hit him pretty hard. "Chuck, there's a good possibility-" He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Pulling his gun, he motioned for Chuck to be quiet as he checked the peep hole. Satisfied he put his hand behind his back and opened the door slightly. "Yes?"

"You requested some tests, Mr. Casey?" Holding his ID badge in front of him as he spoke.

Satisfied of his identity Casey opened the door to let the doctor in. "Did you fly or just drop out of a helicopter doc?"

"Neither. My home is less than a 5 minute walk from here and car is even faster." He grinned. "Although I must admit it is not as thrilling as your suggested methods of transportation." Holding up a mid size briefcase. "I brought enough equipment to test for the basics here, the rest will have to be done at the lab. Is this the patient?" He pointed to Chuck.

"Yes."

"Fine. Let's get started." The doctor proceeded to pull a syringe and several empty vials from his bag. "We'll need to take several samples."

Knowing Chuck's aversion to needles Casey stepped behind the chair and was prepared to hold him down if necessary.

The doctor pulled the needle and turned to Chuck. "Your arm please." Casey was amazed when Chuck simply held his arm out, never saying a word. No flinching, begging or anything that Casey would consider normal for Chuck.

He stepped around the chair to see if he was completely drunk or partially passed out. Well he was neither, it was readily apparent that the alcohol was catching up to him fast. He also looked more morose than when he came in, if that was even possible. Obviously Chuck had caught on that Casey had found something on the tapes right before the doc had arrived. Chuck was not taking that news well.

"Are you drunk son?"

"I don't know. Am I?" His voice slurred slightly as he spoke.

The doctor didn't answer but looked at Casey with a raised brow. Casey shrugged. The doctor turned and pulled a small square package out of his case. Casey recognized it immediately. Blood clotting powder.

The doctor saw him looking. "It's for after the tests. Not sure how much he drank, but it appears to be enough and this will help clot the blood." Casey merely nodded. Chuck didn't speak.

When he was finished drawing several vials blood, the doctor spoke up. "I can't directly test for complex compounds but I can do simple tests for basic ones as well as detect any residual effects of the complex stuff." He applied the powder and placed a Band-Aid over the needle puncture. "Put pressure on it." Chuck's head gave a wobbly nod.

The doctor pulled a small rack of 12 pre-sealed test tubes from his bag. Placing the self standing rack on the kitchen counter, he unstopped one of the vials of blood and used a dropper to suck up blood and placed 3 drops in each test tube. Some of the tubes changed colors while others did not. "Interesting."

The Doctor packed up the blood samples in a small aluminum case with the now resealed test tubes. "I will have to do more analysis at the lab." He said as he turned towards the door. "You should have my results by tomorrow."

Casey, a little surprised at the doctor's actions, was blunt. "Did you find anything?"

The doctor looked at him and then over at Chuck. Stepping forward, he dropped his voice slightly. "Your friend here is showing residual signs of some kind of narcotic. What the actual drug was I don't know. Other than that, I will need to do more testing, but from the preliminary results I have here it was something very powerful."

Casey is a bit surprised. "What do you mean by powerful?"

Whatever he was given is fading from his system quite fast and only the narcotic side of it is present in any amount. Whatever the compound was, it was exceedingly complex. It effectively neutralized the majority of the tests. Where there should be a reaction, there isn't. Where there is a reaction, it's one that is neither positive nor negative. Whoever made this compound and gave it to your friend, knew exactly what they were doing.

"What about the narcotic? Why did that show up?"

"Narcotics are quite common in different applications; from anti-biotic and painkillers to recreational and assassination. I've been a doctor for several years and based on the state he's in, I can't see it falling into any of the categories I just named. In your friend's case, it's more likely that it was used to ensure compliance. Make him more pliable, if you will. It could also induce mild hallucinations, making him more susceptible to the suggestion. For example, He might think he is having a heart to heart talk with his best friend instead of his worst enemy."

Casey frowned, thinking the worst as the Chuck, aka the Intersect, sat quietly nearby. "Great", he said, the sarcasm evident to all.

The doctor sensed more issues at hand than what could be seen, but knew better than to ask. "Anyway, I'll let you know as soon as I have the complete results."

"Thanks doc". Casey reached for the handle but stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. The doctor leaned towards him, his voice low as he glanced back over his shoulder at Chuck, now leaning against the wall. "Mr. Casey. If I may be so bold. Your young friend doesn't seem the type of person people in our business typically work with, so I feel a word of warning is due. It has been my experience as a doctor that ones like him get drugged into a situation they would never do. Narcotics will cause emotional instability, depression being common. An episode of depression can have disastrous results. I suggest you keep him away from any external stress and a close eye on him. I will contact you with more instructions when I've finished my analysis."

Casey nodded and let the doctor out. With the door closed, he ran both hands over his face rubbing his eyes. This was going to be a long day. He could just feel it. He straightened and turned to Chuck, keeping his face relaxed and calm.

"Chuck, it looks like the doctor has pretty much confirmed what you said. He will give us more details tomorrow. For now, why don't you head home and get some sleep. I have to call this in."

Chuck nodded and slowly stood. His balance was as shaky as his slurred words, "Right, _'cause everyone will need to know_." Chuck wobbled to the door, leaning against it to rest he turned to face Casey. "You know I really thought it was _her_. I guess I'm as gullible as everyone thinks I am."

Casey winced as Chuck's self accuasation, finding he couldn't bring himself to answer that, but he did feel the need to say something. "Don't worry Chuck. We'll figure this out. I've got your back." He opened the door for Chuck to head back to his place.

As the door closed he heard a quiet comment slip from Chuck. "That's because my back appears to be the only thing that isn't covered."

--o--


	13. Our Lives, Worst Day is Redefined

**--o--**

_A/N: This chapter is a little angsty/distressing. Language, __**violence**__ warnings apply. No this is not for any angst competition. I could post a short angsty one shot I have sitting on the back burner, but I have no time for that. There are more authors' notes at the end of this chapter._

**Chapter 12**

**Our Lives, "Worst Day" is Redefined **

Devon used his fingers to keep the pencil spinning; effortlessly flipping it in and out of his fingers. He was always good at physical things. As far back as he could remember he excelled in every sport he tried, dominating the field.

Sure in the beginning his academics suffered, but it wasn't long before his mom stepped in and showed him how to attack them the same way he attacked sports. A simple twist of how he applied himself, placing more emphasis on reading and writing and those grades began to improve. By the time he had got a solid grip on the academic side of things, his sports and other physical activities had suffered a fair amount. He didn't need help from either parent to identify his next goal; time management.

It proved to be harder than each of the individual sets of activities, mainly because he had to continuously weigh the pros and cons of performing one task before another while evaluating which would give the greatest reward for the amount of effort involved. By the time he mastered it to any appreciable degree he found girls suddenly become interesting and his world shifted to include them.

He loved challenges. There wasn't anything that he feared. Sure he didn't win all the time or get everything right, but he did his best and the next challenge was just around the corner.

His parents had been great. _No_, he corrected himself. They had been _awesome. _ Fantastic supporters in everything he did. They didn't push, as much as they took the time to show him what he needed to do to be at his best. Everything fell into place after that.

Well, everything but girls. He had a lot more problems with them then he liked to admit to anyone, especially his parents. His mom and dad had an awesome relationship and they simply expected him to have one too. Why wouldn't they? After all, he was a Woodcomb and he was able to accomplish any task set before him. They knew he would work hard, be fair and win the heart of anyone he wanted.

He almost thought that that was part of the problem. Sure he could _catch _the woman but it wasn't long before he looked for the next challenge. He never saw them as a conquest or prize; they just didn't hold his interest. No woman had really kept him on his toes until he met Ellie.

She seemed like she was from a different world. Sure she was beautiful like the others he had dated, but what set her apart from them was her selflessness and giving attitude. While she shared things with him, her lifestyle was sufficiently different that he had to break out of his in order to meet hers.

Even now he had to push himself to participate in her chosen activities. Sure wine tasting wasn't his thing, nor was the Symphony, but in retrospect, why wasn't it?

He tossed the pencil on the notepad, taking a sip from the water bottle. Glancing at the clock, he calculated he had a little over 4 hours left before his shift ended. Ten minutes left for his break.

Setting bottle back onto the table, he picked the pencil back up. So where had he gone wrong? He could find no fault in his upbringing; with his parents or schooling. He had a great job, which he performed well. He had tried to take care of her every need and show her what he did to experience life fully. He even worked at meshing with her interests, establishing more common ground. That kind of rankled a bit with him. He hadn't even _realized _there was a problem until Morgan helped them identify it while shopping for their anniversary present. It worried him that he wouldn't be able to overcome what he couldn't see. Yet Morgan, a self proclaimed underachiever was able to point it out.

"_Was that the beginning of the end?" _He asked himself. It couldn't be. Wasn't he succeeding? Initially he thought so; her acceptance of a marriage proposal being a big indicator. Yet he had uncovered things lately that indicated otherwise. _So why was she slipping through his fingers? What was he doing wrong? _

They were questions that he had no answer for and it worried him because nothing scared him as much as losing Ellie.

--o--

Morgan hung up the phone. He knew Anna was home. She just wasn't talking to him; again. _Or was it still? She stopped talking to me at work so I guess it's still. But she wasn't talking to me on Sunday because of that whole beauty pageant comment I made, so wouldn't that mean 'again'? Crap. I need Chuck's help. Chuck!_

Morgan jumped up from the couch to find a clock. In dealing with Anna, he had totally forgotten that he was supposed to go over right after work. That was a good couple of hours ago. With the hammer dropping at work, he had promised Chuck some moral support.

Running into his room he froze when he spotted the Xbox360 sitting quietly on the desk. Pausing in his frantic race to grab equipment for the moral boosting session he had planned, he suddenly dropped his bag on the floor before plunking down onto the edge of his bed to mull over their friendship.

Over the course of the last five years they had become much closer. Albeit partly due to the fact that Chuck had been cut off from anyone at Stanford after the cheating incident and that was magnified by the damage done by the whole Jill thing. Regardless, he had always been there with Ellie to help Chuck get back on his feet. Morgan smiled as he remembered good times.

It wasn't so long ago that if Chuck was off work or at home, Morgan didn't even have to stop by. He just had to head home, check in with mom, grab a pop from the fridge and power up his 360 for some online buddy to buddy talks as they powered through co-op mode in Gears of War or Rainbow Six. If they wanted a challenge, they fired up Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4 for some multiplayer team based action.

Not so anymore. Now things were just...different.

Morgan sat staring at his 360. Chuck wasn't online. Chuck was never online. They had always been close, but since he got a girlfriend he had begun to drift. He never had time to just hang out or play games. Sure he had a girlfriend now too but it wasn't the same as Chuck and Sarah.

With Anna, it was different than when he hung out with Chuck. Besides, hanging with Anna usually included sex. Well, not right now it didn't. She was pretty pissed about the whole drug, sex thing. He tried talking some sense into her but she wasn't having any of it. Actually, this was usually about the time he talked to Chuck to get his advice on how to fix things. He was always great at helping and knew just what to do to fix things.

He sighed and grabbed an already opened can of pop off of the side table. He'd come full circle back to Chuck. He wasn't spending enough time with him. It felt like their friendship was slowly slipping away and he didn't know how to stop it. He looked down at his pop, squinted his eyes and his lips pursed.

He slammed the can onto his desk and stood up. He had proven he could be a _tucker_ and that's just what he was going to be in order to help his friend. He promised he would be there for him. _Well a little late but still..._

He breathed deep, expanding his chest. This was one hobbit that was not going to let his friend down. He marched out the door, slamming it behind him. Seconds later he burst back in at a run, heading for the bedroom. He grabbed his bag off of the floor and sprinted for the fridge. Pulling out a 6 pack of grape soda, he yelled, "Ma, I'm at Chuck's. Don't wait up." He darted out the door without waiting for a reply.

--o--

Sarah was keeping a quick pace, having already parked, she was on her way to Casey's apartment first. Casey had sounded pretty angry on the phone. Obviously he was off shift already; possibly having talked to Chuck. If anything, she figured it had something to do with the _personal time_ Morgan was mentioning that Chuck had taken. She hoped it was nothing that would affect Casey's stance on her and Chuck's relationship, especially now that the three of them had an understanding on the relationship angle.

She wasn't really sure how or when they had decided to take it slow and it seemed to work out for the best initially, but they had both been ready to move in a more intimate direction of late. The problem seemed to be with the events surrounding them spiralling out of control, the moment they started anything intimate.

Well tonight everything was exactly where she wanted it and things were going to happen. She had been so close to ripping his clothes off several times that it was starting to affect her work at the Wienerlicous. One daydream in particular had him working over every inch of her body on the counter of the fast food restaurant. It got particularly good near the end as he was holding her pig tails for leverage, as his mouth ravaged her neck, in between...she forced the thoughts into the background for now. God, she couldn't wait till tonight. She didn't think she could hold out any longer.

She came through the gate in time to see Chuck step through his window and turn to close it, drawing the blinds as well. She was going to wave and call, but his movement seemed off. Her instincts told her something was up. She hurried to check in with Casey. She would check on Chuck afterwards. Casey might have a bit of insight on Chuck that would be relevant.

She knocked and Casey opened quickly. He seemed a bit surprised at her being there but his look changed quickly to one of worry. This bothered her a lot more than the surprised look did. His face took on a grim expression as he waved her in. He immediately stepped back into the living room.

Sarah could hear the General's voice. "Who is it Major?"

Sarah quickly stepped into the living room and answered for him. "Agent Walker, ma'am."

"Well good timing . The Major was just bringing us up to speed. Continue Major."

Not wanting to give away the fact that she had no idea what he was bringing them _up to speed on _she remained quiet.

Case cleared his throat, glancing at Sarah before continuing. "Ma'am, the woman was in the Intersect's bedroom for several hours each morning, starting on Monday of this week, through to this morning."

"So to sum up the situation Major, would it be safe to say that an unknown woman bypassed your surveillance and had sex with the Intersect for several hours each night for 3 nights in a row this week."

"Yes ma'am."

"And what evidence do we have of this at this point."

Casey paused as he glanced at Walker's pied eyed face and open mouth, "At this point we only have Chuck's admission and the possible confirmation of surveillance tampering-". The General cut him off.

"I've heard enough. You two better have this sorted out. I want details. I want to know why she was there and what she was able to get out of Bartowski. I shouldn't have to remind you that his home surveillance was your responsibility when Agent Walker wasn't there. You have 48 hours. ."

"Agent Walker." Sarah didn't immediately respond.

"_Agent Walker._"

"Yes ma'am."

"Where were you when this went down?"

"Ahh, in the early AM, I would have been at my apartment sleeping ma'am."

"I see. Do you have any more information to add to Major Casey's briefing?"

"No ma'am."

"Very well. Agent Walker, I suggest you don't let the Intersect out of your sight for one second, unless he is at work with Major Casey. You two are supposed to be a couple. You need to get in there and do your job, before someone else steps in to do it for you _again._ The Major tells me he is currently at home. I suggest you get over there. You are dismissed. Agent Casey, we have a couple more details to discuss."

Sarah had already proceeded to the door, when Casey interrupted the General, "Ma'am could I have a moment to speak with Agent Walker to-"

The General cut him off in a cold voice, "I suggest you worry less about Agent Walker and more about your precarious position Major."

Sarah didn't hear anything else as the door closed behind her. She was in shock. She couldn't believe it. Leaning back towards the door she found herself taking small breaths. Even thinking about the words hurt her in ways that she had never been hurt before. Never. Not even with Bryce. She would have given him the benefit of the doubt, but how could she. Casey _told_ the General that Chuck had admitted it. _Admitted it_! He didn't even tell her, he told Casey.

He cheated on her. From the details of the report she had heard, he had marathon sex sessions with someone else. No wonder he wasn't in a rush to have sex with her. He didn't _need to_, he was already getting his rocks off from some other bitch.

Her breath started coming in deep breaths as her anger raged inside her. Oh she would get to the bottom of this.

With Ellie and Devon both working a double shift they would have the whole house to themselves. One way or another Chuck was going to come clean or so help him he would see how much fire she could dish out on a cheating boyfriend. She stormed up to the front door, ignoring the window. She didn't bother knocking. Now that she was actually dating the cheating bastard, she had a key. She entered the apartment soundlessly. _Who knows_, she thought. _I might catch him in the act_.

The front room was empty. It occurred to her that he probably wasn't expecting her to stop by without calling, so for all she knew he might be squeezing in a quick fuck with the little bitch right now. A thought struck her. Maybe it was his ex girlfriend Jill. She dismissed that as fast as it had popped in her head. Jill wouldn't have known how to sneak around. Now Carina on the other hand, would. She _had _shown a definite interest in Chuck before _and _had tried to sleep with him. She was a likely candidate, the slut.

She stormed down the hall like a tornado in the black of night; arriving without warning to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting, and that was exactly what she planned to do. She reached his bedroom and threw open the door. She felt a sick satisfaction as he jumped off the edge of the bed in fright and spun to face the noise, stumbling as he turned. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked tired and shocked. He was probably expecting _her._

The only thing that stumbled out of his cheating mouth was my name. "Sa..Sarah?"

Her words were cold as ice. "Why so surprised _Chuck_? Were you expecting someone else?"

"No...No. I just didn't know you were coming by today. I mean I knew, but I thought it would be later. You..you usually phone first." His voice was slurred and he had backed up the extra step to lean against the desk holding the 360.

She advanced on him. He didn't step away, but his face clearly showed confusion. "Sarah?", he asked again, realizing something was wrong.

"That is my name Chuck." She spat the words. "Did you forget it? Maybe it's slipped your mind, what with all the late night activity lately. Maybe you are just refreshing your memory. You know, to keep things clear which one you date during the day and which one you _fuck_ at night! Her voice had risen as she spoke. By the time she had finished the sentence she was screaming the words into his face so violently he shrunk back from them.

"You...you know?" The words were almost as whisper.

She could smell the liquor on his breath and it only served to increase her anger. "You mean do I know that my boyfriend is getting fucked at night and it's not by me? Or maybe you're asking if I know that he is a lying piece of shit, telling me to take it slow so has more time and energy to milk every last bit out of the slut he's doing." She sees she is hurting him and takes perverse pleasure in doing so. She wants to see him hurt like she hurts, knowing what he did. She doesn't even care if it is Carina. It doesn't matter anyway, as the bitch will get dealt with later.

He tries to explain. "You don...don't understand. It wasn't like that." His voice is sluggish, timid; weak. If she didn't know any better she would say he is pleading with her. _I don't care. It's all excuses. I trusted him and he broke that trust._

I am relentless in my attack, screaming at the top of my lungs.

"_I don't understand!? What, pray tell don't I understand? Did you fuck someone else or not? It's a simple yes or no!"_

"Walker!" the roar of Casey's voice startles even me and lessened some of the steam I'm sure is venting from my ears.

That's when I hear it. The one word the makes everything turn red and my chest hurt like its' never hurt before.

A whispered and almost inaudible, "Yes."

I reacted on some basic level swinging with all my might. The slap caught him on his left cheek and knocked him to the floor like a rag doll. I must've broken every blood vessel in my hand from the impact. Even my elbow aches from it. I ignore it.

I advanced on him as he struggles to sit up. He has enough time to look at me. My heart almost stops as I catch his eyes in mine. I see something I've seen before in only a handful of people; no fear. An almost palpable wave of sadness flows from his eyes and I can't help but take a half step back in its wake. The little voice in my head is screaming something that I can't quite hear. In the midst of my conflicting senses I pause.

Without warning I'm tackled from behind. I hit the floor and neighbouring wall hard and am disoriented, the impact forcing my gun to slip from my pants. I hear it bounce on the floor coming to a halt somewhere nearby.

It takes a minute for me to realize that the unknown assailant was Casey. "What the hell-"

Before I can finish my sentence I feel myself being dragged to my feet and suddenly slammed into the wall.

"What the fuck are you doing Sarah?"

It's the name thing again. My brain is groggy from the impacts. _Why would he be worried I wonder_? Chuck won't hurt me. _Chuck_. It all comes crashing back, including the anger.

I snap at him. "Let me go Casey."

"Not until you smarten up."

"I should never have got involved with that cheating bastard of an _asset" _I say, spitting the word _asset_ like its poison. There, are you happy. I smartened up." The impact of his hand rocked me. If I wouldn't have been pinned to the wall I'm sure I would've been tossed to the floor like I did to Chuck moments ago.

To say the slap shocked me was an understatement. My cheek is on fire and Casey was a fighter not a slapper. The fact that he thought I needed a slap was something I had yet to agree with.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

His response is angry, but not loud. It chills me to the bone like nothing I've ever felt before.

"Walker, she drugged the shit out of Chuck. He had _no idea_ who it was. He thought it was a dream. He thought it was _**you**_."

My brain processes the new information faster than my mouth. My knees already feel weak. I try to speak, but can only get out a few barely audible words. Powerful feelings of guilt and anger are rushing through my body all at once as I try to make sense of it all. "Drugged? Dream? _Me_?"

"You need to talk to him. Now. He had sucked back most of a forty of Scotch telling me and it wasn't a long story. Between the alcohol and what the doc said about the drugs having a depressive effect on the victim we have to be careful. If he's pushed he will...".

He has stopped talking and I instantly know why; Chuck is not in the bedroom anymore.

_Neither is my gun._

It's so quiet you could literally hear a pin drop. That turned out to work in our favour, as we hear a faint echo in the silence. A noise we've heard hundreds of times, just never in the Bartowski household.

_Schick-Schick_.

It's the slide on my gun being pulled back and released to load the first round. It came from the bathroom.

We both begin to run. Casey just made it to the bathroom door a step ahead of me when we hear the shot. I feel my world end when I hear it. I collapse to my knees, sliding the remaining few feet across the hall on the floor towards the bathroom door; the blood pounding in my ears, my scream echoing through the apartment.

--o--

_Footnote A/N: This chapter was pretty easy to write based on the build up of Sarah's emotional side. Seeking other writing challenges I figured it might be nice to explore a dual outcome. Unfortunately I wanted to get finished before the new season. That kind of locked down the direction for me in this AU story. I have enough characters in play that I don't actually need Chuck to actually finish the plot points for all the characters in this story. That even includes the large plot points that would have involved Chuck. Let me know what you think._


	14. Broken, Part 1

_A/N: Language Warnings. _

_I made some comments in regards to these chapters at the end of this one. I didn't want them at the beginning as the discussion takes away from the story. As the previous chapter was not initially designed to be more than one piece, it continues here in 1__st__ person, but will transition to the more traditional 3__rd__ person at the first break in the story. Enjoy._

**Chapter 13**

**Broken, Part 1 **

Without breaking his run Casey shouldered open the door, splintering it from the jam.

After the gun shot I barely noticed that Casey had kept moving. The sound of the wood snapping brought my head back up, but Casey was now blocking my view of the rest of the bathroom; I couldn't see past him, but I did see him reach behind his back for his gun. In one fluid motion he pulled, pointed and fired before the broken door could impact the wall at the end of its arc.

My agent senses reasserted themselves if for only a brief moment. Placing my hands on the floor like a sprinter, I shifted to the side, confused at what he was shooting at. _Fulcrum? It couldn't be possible_! As I shifted to get a better view, so does Casey, suddenly leaving me with a clear view of the back of the bathroom. My throat closed at the sight of Chuck falling backwards into the tub. There is no one else in the room! "_Why did he shoot Chuck?" _my mind screams. Casey is already lowering his gun. I try to swallow, but it feels like I'm going to choke. Using energy I didn't know I had, I bound up pushing my way past Casey, sprinting to the tub where he is lying.

I couldn't see his face as he fell backwards, but as I run I can see the blood spattered on the wall behind where he stood. The crimson drops already making their inevitable path down wall.

Reaching the side of the tub I see his deep brown eyes are dull and empty as they stare through me. I want to hold him, but the agent in me says no and instead I frisk him for wounds. Only his right hand is bleeding profusely. Non lethal at the moment is my profession field diagnosis. Having ascertained his health as not critical the agent side relents and I find myself reaching into the tub for him.

I grab his shoulders and pull him up, giving him the strongest embrace I can. I'm babbling quietly into his ear; saying all kinds of things. I'm begging him never to leave me, no matter what. I'm begging for forgiveness of what I had done. I'm telling him that I love him more than anything or anyone. I'm begging him not to hate me. I repeat that one more than once. I can't stop myself. I do a lot of begging, including begging for him to forgive me for begging.

I keep repeating myself and tightening my grasp further in an attempt to somehow make it impossible for rejection; at least until he speaks, gasping in a slurred voice, "Can..can't breathe."

I ease off my grasp pulling back slightly to look at his face. The first thing I see is the red mark from my slap. I can't hold back the sob as it escapes my throat. I think back to when I said I'm no good at relationships. I never imagined how deep the flaws went. A small part of me responds with a "_That's because Chuck is going deeper than you been into yourself."_ I instinctively accept the answer, knowing I can't deny it. Chuck has worked himself to the core of my being; to my soul. I find that it feels right, but I worry that he isn't prepared for the real me. I worry that he will find my inner being... repulsive. I worry... no I'm scared he will reject it and me with it.

I suddenly feel hand on my shoulder. "Walker, get Chuck out of there. We need to bandage that hand." Casey says as he stands behind me.

I stop rocking. I don't remember when I started nor do I remember exactly when Chuck wrapped his good arm around me or laid his head on my shoulder. I don't know if it was because he wanted to or if it was done out of necessity; me being the only thing in the vicinity that can he can hang onto to stay sitting.

"Walker." Casey calls again.

I take some shallow breaths, I know I will shake too much if I take deep ones. "Chuck, I'm going to help you stand and sit you on the toilet. Casey needs to look at your hand. Ok?"

A shaky nod from him is all the confirmation I need and I begin to stand. With Casey's help I pull him up and onto the toilet seat lid.

Casey pulled Chucks right arm up and over the counter to get a good look. It is bleeding pretty badly. Not enough to kill him but more than enough to bleed out if left untended for too long. The alcohol in his system is doing wonders for keeping the blood flowing and the lack of clotting could become a problem.

I experience a flash of anger, when I remember he got the alcohol at Casey's. My brain actually kicks into gear this time and I know I'm just lashing out. It's not Casey's fault Chuck is drunk, but it is my fault. Sort of.

The whole gun, bathroom thing is pretty much all me. I try not to think about that right now and focus on Chuck's well being as much as possible.

Right now his upper body is leaning against the back of the toilet, with his head against the wall. With his gaze staring off into space he slurs "Can I lay down now? Tired."

It's one of the times I'm thankful for the CIA training. The speech training actually helps me, as I have to mentally translate what he saying into meaningful speech. Casey's NSA training appears to be similar as he responds.

"Not right now Chuck. You have to hold on for a bit while we patch you up."

Chuck put his head back against the wall, letting Casey continue cleaning the hand in the sink. I positioned myself to ensure Chuck stayed upright and on the toilet. When I was confident I had him solidly placed, I watched Casey finish clearing off the majority of the blood from Chucks hand. I waited till I could see the wound more clearly before speaking. I had already drawn my own conclusion but I needed to know exactly what happened and why.

I speak quietly to minimize any chance of Chuck responding. "Casey why did you shoot his hand?"

Casey doesn't stop washing Chuck's hand but I see his eyes flick to the mirror before dropping back down. I know he looked at me. "I don't like rolling the dice with our team. I couldn't take the chance that his next shot wouldn't eliminate all of us."

I knew by 'us', he meant the team. This time I see his eyes flick to look directly at me, rather than bounce the gaze off of the mirror.

"Besides, I figured you would appreciate it if he kept the big thing in his noggin rather than on the bathroom wall."

He was very focused on Chuck's hand when he finished speaking and my eyes burn. He turned off the water and rooted through the medicine cabinet, pulling out some gauze for Chuck's hand.

Now that the wound had been cleaned, it was apparent that the bullet had gone through the meaty part of his hand between the thumb and forefinger. I am glad Casey is an excellent shot. He will have a scar but no permanent damage, I think.

I look at the shower wall and see the blood spots have already dripped most of the way down and are drying. "Casey we need cleanup."

He growled. "I'm a little busy." I note the tone and figure his sentimental side has gone back into hiding.

I looked down and noticed there is quite a bit of blood soaking through the bandage already. That's when it hits me and my brain repeats a fact that I already know; Chuck had most of the 40 oz bottle of scotch. Blood clotting isn't _going to be_ problem. It already _is a problem._

"Casey, if Chuck had as much alcohol as you suggest, then we have a clotting issue." He grimaced and snapped a sarcastic response without looking at me. "Thanks Walker. I hadn't noticed."

"Here, hold the bandage." He hands me Chuck's partially bandaged hand. "I have something at my apartment that will do."

While Casey leaves for his apartment, I help Chuck sit on the floor. It's better if we're on the floor, as he would just fall off of the toilet anyway. I set him up so that he is leaning against the wall, his eyes closed, and his wounded hand in mine. That's when I see my gun sitting directly behind the toilet. No wonder I didn't see it before, it's just out of plain sight.

Leaning over I pick it up and look at it for damage. I can see where the bullet hit the grip at the back of the gun before sliding off the metal and hitting Chuck's hand. I slipped the gun back into my pants glancing to see if Chuck is looking at me; thankful that his eyes are closed. Watching his face I can see movement under his eyelids.

"Chuck. Can you hear me?"

"Mmmhhmmm", is the slow reply. More of a hum than a word, but I understand regardless.

"Chuck, I think you should spend the next few days at my place."

I watch as his eyes slowly open and stare unfocused into mine. That pain is back in my chest when I realize that he is looking through me. The eyes that I love so much are empty tonight. Empty of everything, including me.

_Especially me._ I don't know if it's the drugs, the alcohol, the argument or a combination of everything that happened here tonight. Either way, my heart doesn't care why his eyes are empty; it just knows that they are.

The pain doubles.

--o--

The package of blood clotting power is still laying on the counter where it had been left by the doctor after Chucks blood test earlier. Very little had been required for the needle puncture, the remainder of the pouch could be used to staunch the flow of blood from Chuck's hand.

Turning to leave his phone begins ringing, pulling it out as he reached the door, he froze momentarily before answering while dropping his hand away from the knob.

"Casey secure." ...

"General?" ...

"Yes ma'am, but we have a bit of situation with Barto-" ...

"We need to secure the area and bring in a small cleanup crew." ...

"Yes ma'am" ...

"No ma'am." ...

Casey straightened. "Crystal." He grimaced as he hung up the phone. _Fucking bitch._

--o--

Morgan found the bedroom window locked and the blinds drawn. He shrugged and headed for the door. It was open as usual. A couple of steps into the apartment he felt a weird vibe; the hair at the nape of his neck began to stand. He shrugged it off, believing it to be a passing reaction for not coming in his usual Morgan door. He called for Chuck. "Chuck? Yo Chuck."

Hearing sounds from the hallway, but no response, he headed in that direction. Chuck would be in his room if he's not in the living room. Rounding the corner, he just caught the movement as the bathroom door closed. Passing the door on the way to Chuck's room he called out. "Hey buddy I'm gonna fire up the 360 while you're finishing up. I even brought some grape soda. I'll let you grab some glasses and ice when you're done in their."

Morgan dropped his bag on the floor by the 360, and put the pop on the desk. He punched the 360's ON button and waited for Call of Duty 4 to load.

He grabbed a controller and sat on the edge of the bed. His eyes never leaving the screen, he called over his shoulder. "Don't you worry about work today. Ole Samwise is here to cheer you up."

--o--

Sarah could hear Morgan's call for Chuck after he entered the front door of the apartment. She moved to shut bathroom door, hoping she had closed it just in time to avoid notice, as Morgan entered the hallway to Chuck's bedroom. Hearing him talk as he passed the door, she knew that he thought Chuck was in the bathroom. While it was technically true, she couldn't let him see Chuck or the inside of the bathroom.

A quick glance around the bathroom left her with only one logical play. Grabbing the only towel available and not covered with blood, she tossed it on the clean part of the counter and began pulling off her clothes as quickly as possible making sure to put her gun well out of Chuck's reach.

--o--

Casey walked out of his apartment in time to hear Morgan's muffled voice emanate from Chuck's room. Moving into position beside the bedroom window, he peeked through a small gap in the blinds.

While Casey mulled over his options he saw Sarah walk into the bedroom in towel small enough to _just_ cover the important parts; provided she didn't walk fast. From his place at the window he watched Morgan's mouth drop as Sarah pretended to be surprised by his appearance.

"Morgan!"

"Oh. Whoa. Uhh...hey Sarah. What are you doing here and what happened to your face?"

She raised a hand to lightly touch her face where Casey slapped her. In the excitement, she had forgotten that she likely had a mark as bad or worse than Chuck's. It wouldn't be pretty. "I could ask you the same thing; about being here, I mean. I told Chuck I would be stopping by after work to spend the night."

"Oh, I'm here for moral support." He stood, backing up slightly to stand beside the TV, while he held the 360 controller up as if to show her how he intended to do it.

Sarah raised her eyebrows. "And exactly what kind of moral support did you think he needed while I was here?" She asked in a slightly accusatory tone. Morgan's eyes bulged.

He quickly put down the controller and held up his hands, palms towards her. "I mean for work." He blurted. "Moral support for work. He was sent home early and was pretty down about it."

"Well he's good for now. I've got him." She placed a little extra emphasis on 'him' to encourage Morgan to leave.

"So where is Chuck anyway?" Morgan said, as he leaned to look around Sarah.

Without missing a beat, "Chuck's just about to climb into the shower with me."

"Oh. Well I'll just wait here till you're out."

_Why does he have to be so dense?_ "It's ok Morgan, we'll need the bedroom when we come out."

"Why?"

Sarah gave Morgan a blank stare.

"Ohhhhh. No problem." He grabbed his stuff and headed towards Sarah in the hall. Before he could leave the room she put a hand on his chest.

"Morgan, where are you going?"

"Oh, I'll just watch a movie until you're done."

"No Morgan." She leaned down to his ear almost purring as she spoke. "The mark on my face. It's from Chuck." Morgan's eyes bugged out as he shook his head in disbelief, stepping back from her a bit as he spoke. "There's no way Chuck-"

She reached forward to grab the collar of his shirt, pulling him towards her so that her lips almost brushed his ear; whispering. "I wanted to be a _bad girl _tonight so Chuck is being _very obliging."_ Forcing him backwards until he was face to face with her, she continued. "And on my bad girl nights things can get quite loud. I don't like people hanging around to hear." She released him and patted the front of his shirt as she finished.

"Oh!" Morgan jumped back. "Yah, no that's... um, totally cool. Anna's sort of..." He stopped talking, turned and headed to the window slapping the OFF button on the TV and 360 as he passed. With one leg out the window, his shoulders slumped in defeat he looked back at her watching him leave. "I guess when you put it like that I should be leaving you two to your fun. Let Chuck know that I was here for him."

He was obviously disappointed and depressed that he didn't get to stay, but she didn't have time to feel sorry for him; she had bigger issues to deal with.

--o--

Casey had just enough time to jump back into his apartment before Morgan unlocked and stepped out of the window.

When Morgan was gone, he stepped back out into the courtyard and re-entered Chuck's through the now open window, locking it behind him. Sarah had already exited the room and re-entered the bathroom.

They had been fortunate that the door had splintered on the inside, otherwise Morgan might have noticed it was broken as he walked by.

Casey knocked on the bathroom door. "Walker."

She pulled the door open and stepped back to Chuck, bending down to where he had slumped to the floor. She was checking his vitals. From the smell and position of Chuck, it was pretty apparent he had thrown up in the toilet while they were out of the bathroom. He also noted that she apparently she had enough time to slip back into underwear at least, as the towel had ridden up.

Chuck on the other hand didn't look good. While she was getting rid of Morgan, the blood had soaked through the bandage and starting to leave a puddle on the floor.

He pulled out his phone for another call.

Waiting for an answer he watched as Walker kneeled in the blood, stroking the hair off of his face, while keeping pressure on the hand.

The line picked up.

"Doc. Agent Casey here." ...

"How do you feel about visitors?" ...

"Minor gunshot wound to the hand, profuse bleeding, and due to alcohol." ...

"Yes, him." ...

"I can forward the address to her phone for GPS directions." ...

"I'll send him over with Agent Walker. Expect them in 10." He hung up and pressed some buttons. Seconds later Sarah's phone chimed as the message was received.

"Walker, I'll do that. Get dressed; you and Chuck have a doctor's appointment to make. Directions are on the phone."

She grimaced and nodded.

He noted that while she was worried, she handled herself fairly well. All things considered, he figured that the whole relationship thing was working. Well aside from this huge cluster fuck, but as an agent these things happen.

Looking at Chuck, the bleeding hand, the blood on the wall and his partner getting dressed, he had to concede the point a little.

_Ok, it doesn't happen like this for agents either, but most agents don't have one Charles Bartowski, human Intersect and danger magnet, on their team._

--o--

Morgan stumbled aimless out of the courtyard. It was official. He wasn't needed any longer. He had been replaced by Sarah. Like the vixen from those Greek myths. He swung his leg over his bike. His bag hung limply from his shoulder as he began peddling. He couldn't go home. That would remind him of Chuck.

He couldn't go to Anna's; she wasn't answering the phone and answering the door would be out of the question. He didn't want to share his embarrassment with the other Buy More staff. By staff he meant Lester and Jeff.

He _could_ go to the store and hang out there. It was kind of a neutral ground.

Turning his bike around he peddled for someplace he could be comfortable at. God knows, no one else wanted him.

_Maybe the Discovery channel has more wolf documentaries, _he thought as he peddled into the night.

--o--

_A/N: I apologize for keeping you worried about Chuck for so long, but I had this section sitting on a back burner for a long time. I actually had to modify and expand on my inclusion of Mary to make the previous chapter work. The majority of the feedback was very positive and/or very strong about not wanting Chuck to die._

_I did receive a couple of people that did not like the 1__st__ person Sarah while others loved it. For those that didn't like it, there's not much I can say. Shifting to a 1__st__ person view point increases the readers awareness of the person speaking, while limiting the other characters input to only what they say or do if it directly impacts the person. This shift needed to happen to focus on Sarah's actions, rather than the other characters._

_In other author tidbits of useless information, I find it almost easier to create a chapter and keep expanding it until it covers what I want it to cover, then chop it into meaningful pieces. By doing this, I have more chapters that instantly flow together through one or two plot points and they can be posted daily._

--o--


	15. Broken, Part 2

_A/N: Language Warning._

_Again, I will have more notes at the end of this chapter._

--o--

**Chapter 14**

**Broken, Part 2 **

Loading Chuck into the Suburban wasn't difficult. Casey did all the heavy lifting, placing Chuck prone on the back seat, before handing the keys to Sarah. "You good?"

She nodded, jumping in behind the wheel. Placing her hand on the gear shift she rolled down the window and looked at Casey. "You have less than two hours before Ellie and Devon are home. Make sure there's no blood."

"You just worry about Chuck. I've got this."

She yanked the gear shift and stomped the pedal to the floor. The tires squealed as she backed up, and again when she popped it into drive. Fortunately Casey had belted Chuck in.

Minutes later she was knocking on the door to a very small villa style house.

A man answered. "Agent Walker, come in. I've been expecting you. Where is the young man?"

"In the vehicle. I need help to bring him in."

The doctor assisted her in retrieving Chuck, and once inside the house they placed him in a small room near the front entrance. He began to examine Chuck immediately, speaking as he did so.

"Would you like something to drink? Water? Juice? Coffee perhaps? Do you need something for your face?"

"How about you just make sure he's all right and worry less about me." She snapped.

His eyes glanced at her, taking in her appearance and demeanour in a glance. "I see."

Sarah squinted at him, not liking the tone of voice. "You see _what, _exactly?"

The doctor began unwrapping Chuck's injured hand, placing a small bowl underneath to catch the blood. His focus entirely on Chuck, he began. "I see you care for the young man. You are worried about him. No?" He punctuated the last words by looking directly into her eyes as he waited for a response.

The ice melted at his gaze and her visage softened. "Yes, I'm worried", was the soft reply.

The doctor smiled as he went back to work. "Can you fill me in on how this happened?"

Some of the steel reasserted itself in her response. "I don't see how that is relevant to your bandaging the hand."

The hand was completed unwrapped now and the doctor was pouring some liquid over it, as he inspected the wound. Sarah turned away slightly to avoid looking at the result of her handiwork. If she hadn't said the things she had to Chuck, then Casey wouldn't have had to shoot him.

The doctor caught her aversion in his peripheral vision. "It isn't relevant to his hand. It is important to how you deal with the situation." His words pulled her attention to him immediately.

"I don't understand. Are you a doctor or a psychologist?" She had meant it to be a statement, but it sounded harsher than intended.

"I have extensive backgrounds in both." He said, answering her question, leaving it sufficiently vague enough to keep her guessing just how extensive.

Not receiving any further questions, he continued with his discussion on the current situation. "I still haven't been able to completely break down the compound yet but based on my experience, the victim usually doesn't remember much of the incident. Maybe the odd fragmented dream or flash of déjà vu, but nothing more. In your _friend's _case, he has imbibed a significant amount of alcohol which will further impair his memories of tonight. He will likely retain vaguely unpleasant feelings but as long as you and Agent Casey react as if it there is nothing to stress over, he should follow your lead. Emotionally, I mean."

During his explanation she caught his change in tone when he mentioned friend, but she left it alone. No sense in drawing attention to something she was trying to hide from others. 'Others' being their respective agencies.

He continued talking without waiting for a response. "I wouldn't worry about the young man. Some sleep and he should be just fine, although you may want to find out how he was getting dosed. In the meantime I will contact you when I've got results." He stood and reviewed his handy work.

"Well. We're all done here." While he had been holding her attention he had attended to Chuck's hand and it was now neatly bandaged with no signs of blood pouring out of the gauze. Chuck was passed out and beginning to drool.

"He will need the bandage changed daily. I will write down instructions and give you supplies. If you have a problem, contact me."

The doctor glanced down and smiled, turning to Sarah, "I'll get something to wake him up and clear his head a little. Why don't you sit with him while I get it?" She nodded and moved towards Chuck; taking the doctor's spot while he retrieved the medical kit to take.

Chuck's face was much calmer than earlier. She gently stroked his hair, savouring the contact with him. At one point, he moved closer, although she had no idea if it was just a movement or an unconscious gesture to get closer. She hoped it was the latter.

The doctor arrived with a small needle and smelling salts. Without waiting for any response, he plunged the needle into Chuck's arm and held the salts under his nose before turning to face Sarah.

"The needle will counter some of the alcohol. He won't be totally sober but he will be coherent by the time you get him home."

Her eyebrows raised. It wasn't something she had access to, even as a field agent.

He smiled. "It's my own concoction based on some work I did for the company a few years back."

Within a moment or two, Chuck was awake and sitting groggily. They waited for 15 minutes or so partaking of the doctor's hospitality. Juice for her and water for Chuck.

A test walk to the bathroom and back was done before leaving, to ensure Chuck was functional enough to walk. When that met with success, the doctor bid them good night; watching them from the doorway as she looped her right arm around his left, while his right sat in a sling.

He smiled at the action, recognizing it for what it was, before closing the door and heading back upstairs to his wife.

--o--

Ellie pulled her key from the door as she walked into the apartment. Looking up she was startled to see the lights on and John sitting at the kitchen table.

"John?" Ellie said, watching as he paused while writing some kind of note.

Slightly started by her presence he stood quickly. "Oh. Ellie. I didn't expect you home so soon."

"Yah, I got off work earlier. Devon too. I thought he was right behind me but I guess he didn't get as lucky with the green lights as I did." Her eyebrows rose slightly as she paused just inside the door.

"What are you doing here? Come to see Chuck?"

"Actually, I was leaving a note." He held up the paper and pen. "But I guess that's a moot point as your here." He crumpled the note and pocketed it, leaving the pen on the counter.

"Oh. What was the note about?" She said, slightly concerned.

"Chuck asked me to tell you that he is spending the next few days over at Sarah's place. I had planned on telling you personally, but I wasn't sure how long your shift lasted, so I was just going to leave a note instead."

Ellie's immediately perked up, a smile spreading across her face. "Really? That's great! So my talk helped?"

He smirked as he walked towards her. "I guess so."

"I'm supposed to meet with her this weekend for some R&R. I hope she's up for it."

"You and me both. You'll let me know if anything comes up?"

"Definitely. Same on Chuck's end?"

"Of course", he said as he neared the door where she stood.

"John?"

"Hmmm?"

"Thanks for the inside information on Chuck and Sarah." John was startled as Ellie stepped forward to hug him. "Without your help they might still be stuck going nowhere."

Unsure of what to do, he half heartedly returned the hug. "No problem. It was the least a good neighbour could do."

The door opened suddenly, Devon stopping a step into the room. "Hey Babe I-"

John released Ellie and took a step back from her. "Devon."

"John. What brings you to our neck of the woods?" His voice surprisingly flat and lacklustre of its usual awesomeness. It could easily have been passed off as being over tired from the long shift at the hospital, but Devon knew better.

"Just passing a message on from Chuck." He glanced back down at Ellie. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to be heading home. I have work tomorrow and I like to get my beauty sleep."

Devon nodded and stepped aside to let him pass, closing the door quietly.

"What message from Chuck?"

Ellie turned to give him a hug and peck on the cheek before waving her hand dismissively. "Oh, he said Chuck will be at Sarah's for the next couple of days."

"Couldn't Chuck phone?"

"I guess not. Anyway, we have the house to ourselves the next couple of days, so we can enjoy it. I'm jumping in the shower for a minute, then into bed. See you there?"

"Yah. Babe. I'll be there soon."

She left the room not noticing his sullen look as he moved to the couch, plopping down into it while he waited for her to finish in the bathroom. On happier days, he would have chased her into the shower.

This was not a happier day, and truth be told, she didn't even seem to notice.

--o--

John paused outside the door. He caught a glimpse of the last agency cleaner duck around the corner on the way out of the complex. He had bought them just enough time to slip out Chuck's window.

_All's good so far. _

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a very brief moment. _Damn it if she doesn't smell delicious, _he thought.

The following thoughts flitting through his head were anything but agency related; but most definitely Bartowski centric and they had nothing to do with Chuck.

His eyes popped open. _Shit, maybe not so good._

Taking a glance around one more time and seeing everything in order, he quickly stalked off to his apartment to wait for Walker's report on their doctors visit.

Closing his apartment door, his cell rang. Looking at it, he picked up. _Speak of the devil._

"How's Chuck?" ...

"Good. Ellie and Devon just got home, so I suggest you do not bring him here." ...

"Your place?" ...

"No, I don't have a problem with that. As a matter of fact, I would suggest you keep him out of sight. I've already told Ellie and Devon that he would be there for a few days." ...

"You couldn't exactly bring him back her now could you." ... He breathed a quiet breath of relief, as they had unconsciously chosen the same location for Chuck to stay, albeit his reason being substantially more critical than hers.

I'll check into the Buy More issue and in the mean time you stay with Chuck. If I need you I will contact you." ...

"Don't you worry about briefings. I can handle it. You just make sure he never leaves your side. I'm already in enough shit so it's probably best if you stay away from me for a couple of days at least until I can sort this out." ...

"Just concentrate on taking care of Chuck and get some rest. Casey out." He dropped the phone into his pocket on his way into the kitchen.

He grabbed a bottle of water, checked his gun and headed out again. He had a meeting with a certain hobbit. His steps hitched the tiniest amount.

_Damn Bartowski and his nerd shit. It's rubbing off._

His relaxed face and tiny smile betrayed his real thoughts on Chuck's stereotypical life.

--o--

Chuck was awake but very quiet on the way to her hotel. She left him to his thoughts, while she drove.

He didn't speak until they entered her hotel room. "What about clothes?" He asked, his words still carrying a very slight slur but were otherwise flat and emotionless.

"I have a set of your PJ's and some other clothes in the top two drawers, left side.

If he was surprised he didn't show it. He simply went to the drawer, pulled what he needed and entered the bathroom to change.

She waited until he was done before she jumped in for a quick shower. He was already in bed when she came out, his eyes closed as he lay on his back. His injured hand was cradled in his left hand, both resting on his chest.

Seeing him laying there brought back images from the bathroom. Something had been burning in the back of my mind and she flashed to the image of her gun, the damage to the handle and his injury. From where he had been standing, he had the gun pointed away from himself when Casey shot. In his drunken state, he obviously lost his balance afterwards, but that didn't explain everything. She decided to ask before sleep over took him. "Chuck, why did you fire a shot off first?"

His eyes opened and he tilted his head to face her where she stood beside the bed. He did not smile and his eyes were still dull enough to send a chill down her spine.

"I didn't. I turned off the safety then remembered to pull the slid back to load the chamber. I must've accidentally touched the trigger and it went off. I guess I froze when I heard you scream and then Casey burst in and shot the gun out of my hand."

His response magnified the chill into a full blown body shiver. The agent in her wanted to say nothing. To keep quiet and not get involved; to leave him to deal with it on his own. Ignoring her training she reminded herself of the choice she had already made. He is in her bed by her choice and not for any cover, regardless of the circumstances.

Whether he stays in the bed, is something she wanted to help him decide on.

"Chuck. I don't know what to say to make it better. I'm sorry I took it out on you. I didn't realize what the entire situation was about and-"

He cut her off with a look from his eyes. They were back. No longer quite so lifeless and dull; a familiar spark of emotion flashed within.

He didn't say anything, instead he reached out to turn off the light with his good hand before pulling her down to snuggle into his warm embrace.

The gentle caress of his lips brushed the topmost of her forehead before his head fell back to the pillow. He was asleep almost immediately, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. She drifted off shortly after, savouring the movement of his chest underneath the arm she had draped across it.

--o--

Morgan wasn't home. Access to the basement where he stayed with his mom was easy enough, but he wasn't anywhere inside. He wasn't at his girlfriends place either. There was only one place left he could be at. Casey grumbled to himself on the drive there.

If he would've thought to check the surveillance gear before he left the apartment, he probably would've noticed an intrusion at the store. It was very likely that the grid would have picked up his presence at the Buy More shortly after Walker booted the little gnome out of Chuck's room.

Jumping out of the suburban, he walked to the back entrance, bypassing security and his own surveillance equipment. It didn't take him long to find Morgan sleeping in the home entertainment room.

Standing in front of the couch he put on his grumpiest face and spoke very loudly. "Rise and shine."

Morgan jumped to a standing position, his eyes still closed. "Ma', I'm up already."

"I am _not_ your mother."

Opening his eyes, he stared at the man towering over him. "John? What are you doing her man? It's late."

"I double as night time security, looking for unmentionables and other things that shouldn't be happening at the store. Kind of like employees using the home entertainment room as their own personal hotel." He leaned down to speak the last few words directly into Morgan's face.

"Dude, not cool. Brush first or something."

The grinding of teeth echoed in the small room. "I didn't bring any grape soda, but I'll try to be reasonable about this. How about a trade?"

"Reasonable? And a trade for what? You don't have anything I want."

"Oh but I do. Your job for violating the store policy regarding living here."

"Oh." Morgan's face fell and he stopped speaking for a moment before suddenly looking up and directly into Casey's face. "You know what. Take my job. I don't care. It doesn't matter anyway now that Chuck won't be here anymore."

Casey straightened ever so slightly. "What do you mean Chuck won't be here?"

"I could get fired for telling you this but I guess it doesn't count. I'm already on my way out and they can't fire me _more_. It will be my last hurrah at the Buy More."

"Morgan." He said through gritted teeth.

Morgan had turned to look out the glass windows at the rows of shelves. He waved dismissively. "Besides you're almost family anyway, what with Ellie inviting you over all the time."

Morgan didn't notice Casey take one step back, as almost an unconscious effort to distance himself from Morgan's words.

"Anyway, the urine test should be back from the lab today. Once he tests positive for drugs, they will fire him."

"How the hell did Bartowski get tested for drugs?"

"Well, I think it was sort of my fault. He'd been acting odd and while we were talking things got a little out of hand. It didn't help that I thought Sarah might be dealing-"

Morgan's feet left the ground, to find himself face to face with a very angry man. "You thought Chuck was on drugs and had had him tested, and then you suspected his girlfriend?"

"Not exactly." He stopped to look into Casey's rigid face. "Ok, that's exactly it."

Casey dropped him. "Go home. NOW!" Morgan scrambled to gather his things. "If I hear you breathe a word of what you just said, I will find you and gut you like a fish."

Morgan nodded vigorously, his arms full of miscellaneous junk he had brought. When Morgan had left, he pulled out his cell.

"We have a situation at the Buy More."

--o--

Sarah woke from Chuck's movements. He had kicked off the blankets and even in the dark she could tell his hair was matted on his forehead. From the sounds he was making, he appeared to be having some kind of dream. The moonlight from the partially open blinds trickled in and highlighted his face as he shifted, allowing her a glimpse of him; contorted and distressed. It wasn't a dream it was a nightmare.

Placing a hand on his shoulder she could feel the heat emanating from his skin. She gently shook him. "Chuck", she said quietly. "Chuck."

When she got no response, she leaned over him and a hand on each shoulder, calling him yet again but more firmly. "Chuck!"

Her eyes had adjusted to the weak light enough to see her blond hair hanging down in front of him as his eyes snapped open. She was caught completely off guard, as Chuck yelled "No" and violently shoved her backwards and away from him as he slid out of the bed, hitting the floor with a thump while she tumbled backwards to flip off the far side of the bed and land on her back.

Dazed, it took her a moment to get up and reach for the lamp. A flip of the switch on the base and she turned to where Chuck had been. She was surprised a second time in as many minutes. Chuck was sitting in the corner on the floor, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. She could hear his heavy breathing from where she stood on the far side of the bed.

Quickly moving around the bed and towards him she noted that he was staring straight ahead as if still in the nightmare. Crouching down, she called softly. "Chuck?" Reaching with her hand to his face.

His uninjured had moved faster than she thought it could, catching her off guard and grabbing her arm just above the wrist, his fingers digging in. She let out an involuntary gasp at the pain. "Chuck your hurting me."

Drawing in a shaky breath, his eyes refocused in the light of the lamp. "Sarah?" he asked weakly.

"Yes Chuck. Please let go. You were having a nightmare."

His yes flicked to his grasp on her arm, his fingers white from the pressure exerted. He released her immediately. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I thought..." He looked down and away, ashamed.

Rubbing feeling back into her arm she placed a hand under his arm and lifted. "It's ok Chuck. Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." She watched him closely as he lifted stood, wincing whenever he moved the injured hand. The injections the doctor had given Chuck had likely worn off long ago. Without the shock, the alcohol or the drugs, it was likely very painful.

"Is your hand bothering you Chuck. Does it hurt?"

He avoided her eyes. "Yes."

"The doctor gave me some pills for the pain­-"

"NO!" He shouted. Her face must have shown her shock at his outburst, because he glanced at her and repeated more quietly, "No. I don't want them unless I really need to."

"It's ok Chuck. You don't have to take them if you don't want to. But I do think you should take a shower, you feel quite warm and the PJ's are soaked."

"What about my hand?" He emphasised the bandage wrapped hand by holding it up.

"I have a plastic bag we can put over it."

His brows furrowed a bit as he looked at his left hand. She understood.

"I could help if you let me." She said very softly, biting down on her lower lip as she stared into his eyes waiting for a response.

He tilted his head a little to the side as he returned her stare before dropping his gaze to his hand then back up. A small nod, a quiet "Sure" and followed by a strangely shy smile on his face.

She couldn't stop herself as she looped her right arm through his left, a smile as large as he'd ever seen on her pasted across her face. "Then let's get you cleaned up, shall we."

_--o--_

_A/N: My goal for the previous chapters and this one to some extent is to tighten the emotional bond between Chuck and Sarah, while increasing Sarah's ability to feel and acknowledge what she does, rather than just bury it. These two chapters were designed to show the reader that she is making an effort in how she views their relationship and has to accept the consequences of opening up. Leaving yourself open, can lead to getting hurt, which can lead to anger, which leads to lashing out at those you love. Real world consequences can happen when you do lash out. In the Agent world, lashing out can quickly leads to a much more deadly response and there is a lot more situations that can impact their relationship. They will need to come to grips with that. This piece with Mary is but one of the hurdles. ;) More on Mary will appear later in the story._

--o--


	16. Revelations, Part 1

_A/N: Sexual references and language warnings apply._

**Chapter 15**

**Revelations, Part 1 **

Sarah steered Chuck into the bathroom, placing him near the toilet while she turned on the water. Waiting for it to warm up, she tweaked the taps until satisfied before slipping her forearm into the stream. The water temperature was just a touch above warm, making it comfortable, but not hot.

By the time she had turned around, Chuck was already sitting on the toilet lid with his shirt off and in the midst of pulling off his PJ bottoms. One final yank and he pulled the bottoms free of the last leg before looking up to see her watching him. His expression was indecipherable, but his cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he turned his head away.

She found him adorably cute and almost laughed out loud, restraining herself at the last moment. She was going to have to work on that with him. After all, she was still in her PJ's and he still had underwear on. He had become comfortable around her with only a towel on, but there had never really been the underlying chance of being naked _together_. If he was embarrassed now, wait till they were in the shower. _This should be interesting._

He coughed, interrupting her thoughts, as she caught him shifting his view again, but this time he turned to face the floor. It only took a fraction of a second for her to realize he had been watching her through the mirror. A reflexive action had her look at the mirror and she almost gasped at the sight. She was sporting very large grin, with a decidedly predatory look in her eyes. She felt the heat rush to her cheeks, watching as they immediately reddened. If he saw that, it's no wonder he coughed. She had been looking at him like he was dinner. _So much for just helping him wash. _

Schooling her face a bit to tone it down for his sake, she turned back to him and found him staring directly at her while she had been watching herself in the mirror. She felt like they were playing a game of cat and mouse. Only this time she was the mouse. If her face felt hot before, it was on fire now.

She tried to break the gaze by speaking, but it came out as a croak. While she cleared her throat, he broke into a wide smile and stood, holding the injured hand out. "The bag?"

Nodding, she remembered she forgot to bring it into the bathroom. "I'll grab it." Stepping quickly out of the bathroom, she was a little thankful for the break, as it allowed her to calm down a bit. She felt a gentle warmth flow over her. _Leave it to Chuck to make me feel more comfortable._

By the time she came back into the bathroom with the bag, he had already shed his underwear and climbed into the shower. The curtain was pulled mostly closed and he was holding his injured hand out the opening in the curtain. Placing the bag over his hand, she secured it with some masking tape she had handy from the last mission they were on. With the bag snug, she patted his arm. "Your good." He pulled his arm back in and she closed the curtain the rest of the way before stepping out of her own clothes.

Within seconds, she was pulling the curtain back and stepping in. He had positioned himself underneath the shower spout, letting the water wash over his head and down the front of his body, holding his bagged hand out of the direct stream. He didn't seem to be aware that she had stepped into the shower, likely due to the fact that the water had been running over his face and ears.

She grabbed the scrub bud and poured a generous amount of body wash on it, knowing it would create a significant amount of soap lather. With the scrub bud loaded she placed a hand on his chest. His eyes popped open under the stream of water. While the water made seeing difficult it wasn't hard to see the tall naked blond standing a foot from him. He breathed in and promptly choked on the water he had inadvertently sucked in, starting a brief coughing fit.

Apparently not wanting to cough up a lung on her feet, he turned to face the shower taps, effectively placing her behind him. He straightened as the coughing fit receded.

"All better now?" She asked with a smirk. She was sure he detected the teasing, but he refused to turn around.

She had a pretty good idea why he had choked and, more importantly, why his back was to her. Not waiting for a response, she began to wash his back, speaking as she scrubbed. "What did you think when I said I could help?"

He shrugged, a partial glance over his shoulder. "I don't know. I guess I just-"

"You thought I had a magic shower?" She answered sarcastically as she moved down his body, washing his legs and tapping him on the back of each foot to get him to raise it so it could be washed.

"Well no." He paused to let her wash his feet.

"Turn."

He turned slowly, making sure the bag stayed away from the water and awkwardly keeping his free hand positioned in front of his lower anatomy.

She didn't comment on where he had placed his arms, but began washing his chest and arms as soon as he turned.

Keeping his eyes riveted to somewhere over her head he sheepishly spoke. "I guess I didn't think you would actually climb in with me. I sort of figured you would just sort of hand me stuff."

She paused in her washing, having completed the entire upper body. "Sounds to me like you didn't think."

He had been avoiding her gaze somewhat, instead looking everywhere but at her. Her tone didn't quite sound as playful as he thought it should. Looking at her face, she portrayed a very serious image, raising her eyebrows as if daring him to challenge what she said.

"Sarah, is something wrong?" He asked.

"Yes. Here hold this." She grabbed the hand covering his crotch and pulled the arm out to the side to keep it away from the water. She placed the suds filled scrub bud in his free hand. "Don't get it wet as I'm not done with it yet. Tilt your head towards me." He had been a little resistant with the arm but had acquiesced quickly. She kept her eyes focused on his face and hair, knowing it would help minimize any discomfort he felt.

She grabbed the shampoo bottle while he wordlessly complied by tilting his head towards her. Pouring the shampoo on his head she continued. "As _my _boyfriend, I have certain rights. While my job makes it difficult to act on them at times, you can _expect me_ to assert said rights whenever the job is not calling my actions into question." Her tone of voice was such that she would brook no opposition on this topic. Without waiting for a response she said, "Rinse", taking the scub bud back from him to free up his hand.

She waited till he wiped the water off his face before she sought clarification. "Are we clear?"

"Um, sure?"

"That didn't sound very confident Chuck. You either acknowledge my rights as a girlfriend or so help me..."

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "You aren't going to hit me are you?" He meant it as a small joke, but in light of some of the recent events it sounded much more serious than he had intended.

Her reply was much more serious than he expected and said with an entirely straight face. "Only if you want me too."

His smile weakened a little as he tried to ascertain if she was kidding or not.

She broke the gaze and crouched to begin washing his lower half, legs first, before shifting to the section between the legs having left it for last. When she spoke it was the first break in her semi-serious discussion. "At least some part of you is glad I'm in here", she smirked. Keeping his expression emotionless, he deadpanned, "It's the water."

Her right eyebrow rose skyward while her cheeks sucked in ever so slightly. Standing she called his bluff by turning him towards the wall and taking one step closer; pressing herself against him in full contact over the length of his body.

"I beg to differ." She said huskily.

His eyes had widened substantially. She watched as his Adam's apple bobbed while he tried to swallow. "I think we need to get out now."

Not moving an inch she replied, her voice barely carrying above the noise of the water. "You haven't even gotten in yet. What's the hurry?" She began slow kisses from his chest upwards over his shoulder, working her way up his neck, over his chin reaching his mouth and capturing it with hers.

He willingly responded with his mouth, while another part of his could be felt straining against her abdomen. Lasting only a moment he broke away from her mouth. His breathing heavy. "We really need to get out of the shower."

"Why's that Chuck. Don't tell me things are getting too hot for you." She teased.

"Actually..." He left it hang and Sarah froze for an instant before pulling her head back to look at his face.

"You better be kidding me mister." She said

He pursed his lips, his eyes pleading. "I'm about to pass out. My head is spinning."

She stayed quiet for a moment, her face slightly disbelieving before she gave in. "Stay still then."

He wasn't sure if he detected a bit of a growl as she spoke.

She leaned over to the taps and a second later he didn't care what he heard. All he felt now was the ice cold water running over their bodies, hers still holding him against the wall. It did wake him up a bit, forcing the dizziness into the background. She stayed pinned against him until he felt almost numb, when suddenly she leaned down and turned off the water.

He tried to snap a response, but it came out as a teeth chattering, "Abbouutt ttimmee."

She couldn't help being a little annoyed with him as she turned to help him out of the tub, but she checked her snide comment when she caught sight of the slap mark on his cheek. Instead of a snappy retort from her mouth, her eyes saddened a little and she stayed quiet.

The mark had blended amazingly well under the warm water while his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment and in the heat of the moment. The cold water had the opposite effect, leaving the rest of him a bright white, while the hand print stood out like a brand. She lowered her head and helped him dry off, making sure to keep her unblemished cheek towards him, lest he see the mark on her and it trigger more memories than she wanted him to remember.

She was able to steer him out of the bathroom and into the bed, without clothing. The PJ's had been soaked and she only had one pair of his at her place. In helping him to the bed, she had left her own clothes lying on the bathroom floor.

He didn't comment, so she didn't feel the need to bring it up. She figured he had assumed it fell under the 'girlfriend rights'. On that point, he would have assumed correctly.

With the bag off of his hand, she climbed in and snuggled close, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder and neck. The bathroom door was left open a crack and the light was on, part of an unspoken compromise for lighting the rest of the bedroom. Chuck quickly dropped into the depths of sleep once his body warmed to a comfortable state, in no small part thanks to her presence. Once his breathing slipped into the steady rhythm of deep sleep, Sarah let it pull her in to its murky depths.

While they had drifted off relatively quickly, Sarah was awoken a short while later by what felt like Chuck stirring.

"Chuck?" she whispered. "Are you awake?" She knew the answer before he spoke, as felt him tense when she had asked.

"Yes", came his quiet reply.

"Is your hand bothering you?

"Some." His voice had an odd lilt as he spoke. After a lengthy pause he blurted "I can't sleep."

"Do you want the pain med's now?"

There was another pause before he answered. "No."

He definitely sounded different. Almost as if-. It took her a moment to shake enough of the sleep out of her head to realize the problem. A glance at the clock and she put pieces into place. It was just after 2am. Smack in the middle of when Chuck had his visitor the last three nights. While she didn't like the thought, she was glad that she was in the position rather than _someone _else. Not wanting to be a simple replacement of the woman for the last three nights, she had an idea of what to do that would solve Chuck's immediate problem without making tonight a replay of the last three.

She shifted a little closer, and kissed him. "Don't worry Chuck, I have just the fix." She trailed kisses down his chest, passing his belly button on the way down.

"Sarah? Sarah, what are you...Oh!". His good hand grabbed handfuls of the bed sheets as his breathing increased.

Moments later Chuck gasped, arching his back slightly.

Sarah slipped back up to give him a soft kiss. "Better?"

"Mmmhhmmm" was his reply, a very wide smile seemingly etched into his face.

"Thought so", she said as she snuggled back into position beside him, yawning slightly as she did so. "Now get some sleep, we have a long day ahead and we have to be up in a few hours."

--o--

The Buy More staff couldn't be more shocked to see Big Mike in the store before it opened. At least that's what they thought until they realized he had actually arrived with no coffee, donut or newspaper in hand, but he was wearing one pissed off expression on his face. Yelling loud enough for the entire store to hear, "Lester, get your ass in my office now!"

Lester arrived at the door in record time, with several employees slinking behind him in a poorly veiled attempt to overhear any juicy conversations.

"You called illustrious leader?"

"Cut the crap. Corporate phoned me at 4am this morning. That's FOUR in the morning!" He held up four pudgy fingers to emphasize the point. "I didn't even think they got out of bed before ten."

Lester stayed quiet, obviously confused as to what this had to do with him.

"Apparently there were some problems with Bartowski's test. You know. The one _you _gave him yesterday."

Lester immediately perked up, all things confusing suddenly becoming clear. This he could handle. "Problems? Uhh...so is Chuck fired?" He leaned in grinning, as he ran a hand over his hair to smooth it down.

Big Mike looked at him like he had just uttered some blasphemy. "Fired? Hell no. At this rate, we'll be lucky to keep _our _jobs."

A collective gasp could be heard from outside Big Mike's office. Lester's world crashed."What! Why?"

"Apparently when corporate instituted the new drug test policy, they failed to issue the new forms informing the staff and getting signatures prior to implementation of the new rules. Chuck usually checks that stuff over for me and since he wasn't here at the time it didn't get done and none of you bums even thought to do it."

"Forms. Uhh, are you sure we didn't sign forms. I thought I did..." Lester turned to look at the rest of the Buy More staff standing outside the door way. "We signed forms, didn't we?"

The staff murmured amongst themselves before Jeff answered. "No. Although I did fill out that one on that new dating site yesterday. Does that count?"

Lester did a double take and whispered, "No Jeff that doesn't count." Jeff shrugged.

Big Mike had begun rifling through his desk, obviously frustrated at not being able to find what he wanted.

Lester watched Big Mike dig through the desk. "So we don't have forms and Chuck's not fired. Then it's not so bad. Right?"

Big Mike stopped his search to look at Lester like he was an idiot. "Oh, no. We don't get off that easy. Apparently while Chuck was in the hospital, he had been given one of those new fangled experimental drugs. Undergoing any drug testing is an infringement of the nondisclosure agreement the pharmaceutical company has with the hospital, its doctors and patients.

"So...?" Lester prompted

"So, it means we illegally forced a recovering employee to take an unauthorized drug test in direct violation of a legally binding contract with a multi-billion dollar company, then we sent him home without pay or proof of wrongdoing.

Lester looked at little confused understanding only a piece of what was said and holding up his index finger to pause Big Mike. "_We _sent him home without pay?"

Big Mike's frown got bigger. "If I go down, your ass comes with me."

Lester stepped back and nodded rapidly.

Big Mike continued. "We not only have corporate on our ass, we've got the entire legal division running overtime in damage control to handle the pending lawsuits from the pharmaceutical company.

"Well, what about Chuck?"

"Corporate says he's on indefinite paid leave as of yesterday. They also said, because he's the victim and we're the bad guys, you can expect him to sue us. Personally as well as corporately. Something about defamation of character and coercion in a weakened state."

"Finally!" Big Mike leaned to the floor under the desk, pulling up a piece of paper as he straightened, slamming it down on the desk in Lester's direction. Post this letter on the Employee board in the break room. It's from corporate and effective immediately the drug policy program is rescinded until further notice. Now get out and close the door."

Lester turned and ran into Jeff and the other Buy More employee's standing just outside the door.

Big Mike noticed the traffic jam at the entrance to his office. "Get your butt's to work! These next few days may be your last."

Grumbling, "I knew I should've waited till Chuck got back. These idiots will be the death of me yet."

--o--

Sarah woke to hear her phone ringing. Extracting herself from Chuck she answered. "Hello."

"Agent Walker. I have finished analyzing the compound. Do you have time to meet me today for a briefing on the results."

She looked at Chuck still dead to the world. "Give me two hours."

"I'll be here. If you bring the young man, I will check his bandage as well."

"Understood. Walker out."

She hung up, waited a moment and pressed speed dial for Casey.

"Casey here."

"The doctor just phoned. He has the results. I'm taking Chuck there in two hours to meet him for the information."

"How is Chuck doing?"

She glanced to where he was sleeping peacefully on the bed. "Good for now, we had some minor nightmare problems last night but that's it. What about that 'personal time' yesterday? What did you find out?"

"I caught up with Morgan at the Buy More. He somehow got Chuck in trouble and they spot tested him for drugs. Big Mike sent Chuck home on 'personal leave' as a temporary suspension awaiting the results today."

"What! Since when has the Buy More been doing..." She stopped herself from asking questions that would delay the news. "Forget it. Go on."

"I've been up all night fixing this. I think I've got it contained for now, but Chuck will definitely not be at work for awhile. Tell Chuck not to worry about it, he'll get paid for not being there. I can fill you in on more details later."

"Any more information turn up on the woman with Chuck?"

"Walker, I'm good, but I'm not a miracle worker. Besides, that's probably something you should be asking Chuck. He was there after all. Have you been able to get any info out of him?"

"No. I haven't had the chance. He hasn't exactly been at his best." She studied him, watching as he slept. "I'll ask him today."

"Let me know what you get. I'm going to catch some zzz's. Don't call for the next few hours unless it's important. Casey out."

She hung up and put the phone back on the night table before resetting her alarm for one hour from now. She wasn't scheduled for work and with Chuck resting, she saw no reason she couldn't get a little more comfortable. She climbed back into bed, working herself into the groove next to him.

He shifted slightly to accommodate her. Sleep came surprisingly fast and she awoke to the alarm feeling very well rested. She didn't know quite how relaxed she had been until she realized that Chuck had already gotten up and was in the process of turning off the alarm. Forcing her eyes open she squeezed out a soft "thank you".

He raised an eyebrow and smiled as he chuckled and leaned down to kiss her. "I kind of thought it was the other way around."

Pushing her head back to get a better look at him, she realized he was already dressed, with the exception of the unbuttoned shirt. "Oh don't worry buster. Believe me when I say you're running up your tab."

"I'm looking forward to paying it off in full." He placed soft kisses on her mouth between each word.

She draped her arms around his neck. "Well how about working some off right now?"

He placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose. "Sorry. I booked us for breakfast at the restaurant downstairs already. You have 15 minutes and I'm starving."

She was prepared to toss out a snappy retort until he mentioned hunger. Her stomach growled loudly in response. Non-plused, she sighed. "I guess that settles it."

They both chuckled.

She released him and hopped out of bed to find some clothes to wear. Girlfriend's 'rights' or not, she didn't think he would appreciate it if she decided to go to breakfast naked.

--o--


	17. Revelations, Part 2

_A/N: Language & sexual references and/or situations possible. More references to past events in the Chuck vs the Doctor story will be within this chapter. Hopefully you still remember the previous story.  
_

**Chapter 16**

**Revelations, Part 2 **

Breakfast was a pleasantly quiet affair. From an outsider's viewpoint it was merely two people completely comfortable in the each other's presence grabbing a bite to eat.

Sitting at the table, Sarah was extremely glad that both of their slap marks had faded overnight to the slightest tinge of a pink cheek, rather than the angry red hand print of the previous night. Less to see, meant less to explain or in Chuck's case, less of a reason to remember something she'd rather he didn't. It was during her contemplation of the previous night's slap that it occurred to her Chuck was touching her right now. Matter of fact, since leaving the room this morning, he had made sure that some part of him was always in contact with her.

Her mind suddenly shifted into more of an analytical role as she ate, slipping different pieces about Chuck into place ; starting with his aversion to public displays of affection, or PDA's as he like to call them. In a fraction of a second everything clicked into position so quickly she could've sworn her brain made an audible noise; seemingly loud enough for her to stop eating in mid bite to look at Chuck for some kind of reaction to the click. Finding no response from him as he raised his spoon, she returned to her own food, her mind focused on her recent epiphany.

His actions were all tied together. His PDA aversion slowly disappeared the more intimate she became with Chuck. Seemingly the more intimate they were, the more comfortable Chuck became, thereby freeing him up from any unconscious restraints he may have had about doing things that could be considered PDA's. She couldn't stop herself from grinning with a mouth full of fruit at this unexpected revelation.

Chuck being Chuck, noticed immediately, his eyebrows shooting skyward. "Are you ok?"

Almost laughing, she placed a hand in front of her mouth in an effort to keep the food from shooting out while she calmed back down. Recovering, she lowered her hand, smiling sweetly, "Sorry. Just a klutz today I guess."

His look told her that he wasn't buying it, but he didn't say anything, instead going back to eating while watching her from the corner of his eye.

Ignoring his look she continued with her idea. "_Let's put this to the test",_ she told herself. Keeping her agent training active she began to analyze the room. She was reminded of what happened the last time she tried something like this in a restaurant, and its disastrous results. While she paid heed to the memory, she knew in her gut that this time things would be different.

Even though Chuck had phoned down ahead for a quick reservation, they had been placed almost in the center of the thriving restaurant at the only available table. The table itself was a simple circle on a pedestal, designed to fit two people easily, but small enough that larger meals would required extra trays to support the food. For breakfast, it was perfect.

Thinking to mere minutes earlier when the waitress had shown them to their table, Chuck had held a chair out for her before taking his own seat. When he sat he had moved his chair from the customary position across the table from her, to something closer; putting him more at a 45 degree angle from her. Close enough to touch, but still very comfortable to talk.

With the bandage on his right hand, he was eating with his left, and his left foot and knee were touching her right leg. She had continued to eat while planning her next move and she wasn't surprised to see Chuck's eye still upon her when she looked at him. He knew something was up, he just didn't know what it was. Well he was about to find out, in a way.

"_Here we go." _She had chosen a particularly large, harder piece of fruit for the test. It appeared to be a chunk of the pear, in fact. Slipping it onto her spoon, she brought it up and pulled it into her mouth; having timed it so that he had just finished his mouthful of food as she moved in for the kiss.

Placing her hand behind his neck, he immediately looked up from the bowl to see her lean towards him. He didn't pull away and if anything he seemed to lean forward in expectation. The kiss was much longer than she thought it would be. She couldn't say how long it was, because like the one in the stairwell oh so long ago, she seemed to lose track of time.

The waitress clearing her throat caught their attention and they separated back to a more comfortable sitting position. She had brought the bill, placing it on the table with a small smirk as she turned and left. Glancing around the room, there was more than a few people chuckling and talking amongst themselves as they pointed towards the center table where they sat. She kept a demure expression while quickly glancing around the room before returning to look at Chuck.

His spoon was still full of the food he picked up before the kiss, but he was now chewing on a large piece of pear, while somehow holding a huge smile on his face as he stared at her. She suddenly felt giddy like a teenager and grinned right back at him, slipping her right hand under the table to rest on his leg for the remainder of the meal. If he could eat with his left, so could she. It was an insignificant price to pay for what she had just confirmed.

"_Aversion to PDA's removed" _she told herself and she couldn't be any happier than she already was.

--o--

With breakfast over, they had high tailed it to the doctor's residence to keep the appointment. Unsurprisingly the meal had gone on a little too long and now they were in danger of being late. One glance at the time and a shared look between them before Sarah shrugged. No words needed to be spoken. They weren't going to _be late, _they were going to be a lot late.

Once they arrived the doctor wasted no time. He had quickly checked Chucks hand and placed fresh bandages on it. When he asked about pain, Chuck mentioned that he had tried to avoid the pain medication and this morning it hadn't been bothering him all the much. The doctor insisted on at least giving him a shot of antibiotics. Chuck relented after looking to Sarah for confirmation. The doctor did compromise and give Chuck a larger slow acting shot, so it should last for a couple of days. The hand was already healing well and as long he was careful he shouldn't experience any overwhelming pain.

With Chuck taken care of he asked him to wait in the main living room, providing him with access to the TV and some light beverages and healthy snacks, while he escorted Sarah to a small office. Parted from Chuck she found herself missing that little bit of physical contact.

"Would you like anything?" he asked when they arrived in his small office.

Taking the first seat to give her eyesight of the door and hallway leading to Chuck, she shook her head. "No thank you."

He nodded absently as he sipped his coffee. "I noticed that your friend is doing much better. Is he really not taking the pain medication I gave him?"

Her eyes flicked towards him once before darting back to watch for Chuck. "He seems to have some aversion to the medication, so I've had to crush them up into his juice and food."

She didn't see the doctor freeze in mid sip, his eyebrows rising. Setting the cup down, he watched her closely as he spoke. "I understand his aversion to the medication but do you think it's wise to keep him unaware about it?"

The look she gave him was indecipherable. "Yes, it's necessary."

"Very well, if you think it is best." He sighed and set his cup to the side of the desk. "In the meantime have a look at this." He pulled the LCD screen on his desk forward and spun it on the swivel arm so she could see it.

Pointing to several graphs he began to explain what they meant. "I checked the samples I had taken. As you are no doubt aware, I reconfirmed the presences of low level narcotics." Sarah nodded acknowledgment. "After further analysis I found another compound. You are familiar with the street drug Rohypnol?"

"The 'date rape drug'? Yes, I've heard of it."

"Did you know that it is a cheap derivative of a drug initially designed specifically for the CIA?"

"What!"

He chuckled. "Surprising isn't it. Several drugs like this have been developed and purchased by government agencies around the world. The trace amounts I found in further testing provided me with enough information to determine this compound is one of those specialty drugs."

"Are you saying Ch..." She stopped herself from saying his name. "Are you saying the CIA is involved with dosing my friend?" She asked incredulously.

"You misunderstand. Let me be clear. These compounds are designed by outside agencies. Some of them are manufactured at the request of the government body requiring it. Others are created and designed independently by the manufacturing firm and auctioned on a freelance basis to potential clients. The CIA is one such client. There are other buyers, but the CIA has the widest access and highest usage of these types of compounds in the world. Nature of the business, I expect."

"So what does the compound do, exactly?

"The traces I found are from a slight derivative of the original CIA purchase back in '99. If I remember correctly, several variations were made, some more successful than others. The after effects of the narcotic versions based on this strain exhibited alarmingly high rates of depression and suicide, usually occurring in over stressed or emotional people. The more physically aggressive victims simply attacked others instead of themselves."

Sarah found herself looking out his window as he spoke. The words '_high rates of depression and suicide' _echoed in her head while flashes of yesterday evening were replayed in her thoughts. She swallowed hard before realizing the Doctor was not speaking. She turned towards him. He was patiently waiting for her to tune back into the conversation. She mumbled a quiet "Sorry."

He raised a sympathetic eyebrow, almost as if understanding. "Of course the depression occurs _after _the main part of the compound has worn off."

"Meaning the drug functions much differently during its use", she said as if stating the obvious would help keep her mind on the subject at hand.

"Yes. The version of drug present in his system functioned much like the 'date rape drug' in a lot of ways, but in reality it was much more complex and specific in its make up. This one being designed to target males exclusively.

After the initial injection the subject will become sexually aroused very quickly. It's like an extremely powerful Viagra coupled with a hallucinogen. The victim will have lots of energy and will generally be able to maintain an erection and ejaculate at an increased rate for the duration. A conception booster, if you will. The hallucinogen part ensures the victim stays compliant by making them more receptive to instructions, while inhibiting their ability to comprehend who they are talking to."

"In small doses the duration would last about 2-6 hours before fading, at which time the subject would drop back into a drugged sleep with little or no memory of the event. The narcotic side effects of this variant would show up later in the day, but would generally only get worse if the victim is given another dose before the last one has left the body."

"From the samples taken, I would say the young man received about 2 or 3 doses, likely every 24 hours. Continued doses can trigger high points in the day with lots of energy as well as low points. The lows eventually evolve into depression."

Noting her suddenly serious expression, he smiled to reassure her. "I mentioned to the Agent Casey some warning signs to be careful of. Just make sure that he spends his time someplace quiet with little stress. Physical or verbal violence, including arguments most definitely trigger a negative..."

He had looked away for a moment while speaking and when looking back he saw the color had drained from her face. He had stopped mid sentence as he put the previous nights visit into perspective with her current reaction. It was too late for the warning. Suddenly the hidden doses of pain medication made sense; especially if someone was trying to ensure that their friend had as little reminders as possible of the event.

"I think I have all I need for now," she said, her voice somewhat distant as her mind seemed to be elsewhere. She walked to get Chuck, while the doctor followed.

As she neared the room Chuck was in, she realized there was something missing from his assessment. Or rather there was too much in it. She spun to face him, her eyes squinting and dangerous.

Her voice was calm and cold as she addressed him. "How did you come to know so much about the compounds in question?"

If he was scared he didn't show it, taking her questions in stride. "I used to be 'Acquisitions Control'. I ordered the products and verified them upon arrival."

Her eyes betrayed the intent to continue questioning him, but he beat her to it by telling her what she needed to know before she could ask.

"Your clearance is higher than you suspect, Agent Walker. Provided you continue working with the Intersect. His importance is much greater than you or your partner suspect."

She evaluated his answer carefully. "Why are you _here_?", she said as she gestured at the current environment.

Again he caught the real meaning of her question. "If you mean, 'is this a cover', I can assure you it is not. Ms. Walker, not everything is worth knowing. I reached a point in my life where I found that ignorance and the simplicity of life far outweighed the stress of my _job._ As a matter of fact, I am retired and perform 'specialized' assistance to CIA operatives of a specific clearance level or higher in emergencies only." He smiled at her and motioned to the room Chuck was in. "Now if you will excuse me; my wife asked me to pick up some things at the grocery store before lunch and your tardiness has put me slightly behind schedule." He grinned. "My wife doesn't like it when I'm behind schedule and I have no wish to go down that road." He chuckled quietly.

A quick call to Chuck and he was up from the couch and at her side, no questions asked. A polite thanks to the doctor and they were out the door.

Walking to her car with Chuck she tried to grasp the myriad combination of information the doctor had supplied. Not only on Chuck's condition and how it was done, but also things happening behind the scenes of the CIA as well as real life truths about her job and its importance in one's life. She had much to review and not all of it would be covered with Casey or Chuck for that matter. At least not until she could make some sense of it.

--o--

Casey stood rigid in front of the LCD screen in his living room, staring straight ahead as he waited for General Beckman to look up from the paperwork on her desk.

"Have you found any sign of her?"

"No ma'am", Casey answered.

"Have you found out who it was?"

"No ma'am".

Flipping the folder in front of her closed, she threaded her fingers together in front of her and placed her hands on top of the folder. "Have you been able to find out _anything_, Agent Casey?"

"No ma'am, but I expect to know more shortly when I can question Bartowski."

"Very well. You will have to put your previous order on standby until you have an opportunity to resolve this adequately first. I don't want any loose ends.

"Yes ma'am."

"Can I also take it from your lack of information that you have absolutely no idea why she slept with the Intersect?"

"No ma'am. We have no way of finding out. All we are clear on is that she did not speak...words, during the _incidents_." Casey cleared his throat.

"Very well. Get Agent Walker in the next briefing. I will have the Director sit in with us to discuss the next step."

"Yes ma'am."

Casey breathed a sigh of relief. He had a small reprieve for now, but there was no telling how long it would last. He turned towards the kitchen. He still needed a solid plan and he had nothing yet. Stepping into the kitchen, he reached for the cupboard that held the tuna, but paused at the last moment. _Tuna's good, but I need something more active._ Turning he walked to the pantry and began pulling out the ingredients for Quiche. He needed options and to figure that out he needed to cook. As he pulled ingredients, he used his other hand to pull out his cell.

--o--

Chuck stood trying to decide what clothes he should grab while he waited for Sarah to come back from the briefing with Casey and the General. He wasn't sure why they had excluded him but he tried not to think too negatively about it. It still rankled a bit when they left part of the team, namely him, out of the briefings.

They had got the call to stop by Casey's while on the way from the doctor's house. Brass wanted her for a quick briefing immediately. It happened to work out that he needed more clothes anyway if he was going to be spending the time at Sarah's.

While deciding what to grab first, his phone rang. He picked it up immediately. "Director Graham?"

"Mr. Bartowski. We need to talk."

--o--

Casey let her in on the first knock. The General was already up on the LCD. Sarah had time to give Casey a tiny glance of confusion, flicking her eyes to his kitchen counter where it held a small pile of cooking supplies. He gave an almost imperceptible shrug in reply, before they both came to a halt in front of the screen.

"Agent Walker, glad you could finally join us. The Director will be here shortly. While we are waiting I will stick to what we covered in the previous briefing. The Major has brought me up to speed on the situation and not surprisingly, he has absolutely nothing to go on. Have you been able to get any information out of Bartowski yet?"

"No ma'am. Chuck was incapacitated last night and this morning I attended a briefing with the doctor on what drugs Chuck had been given."

"I see."

Director Graham walked into the video feed.

General Beckman glanced at him briefly while updating him on the agents status. "Agent Walker was just informing us she has no information on the intruder, but I fully _expect _them to have some information on the mystery woman and Chuck in the next 24 hours."

Both agents understood the expectation and they replied in unison, "Yes ma'am."

The Director leaned forward, placing his hands on the desk. "What was the doctor able to tell you about the drugs he was given? Is it a risk to the Intersect?"

"No sir. No long term risks, as long as he's not receiving continual doses. The drug itself has been engineered to ensure the subject is good for one thing." Swallowing hard, she paused before continuing. "Sex."

For the first time in the meeting, General Beckman showed some irritation about the situation. "I have a hard time believing someone would be interested in Bartowski for anything, let alone sex. He is a gangly bumbling nerd that works at retail store for Christ's sake."

"Ma'am. It's a multi-part compound: one part to confuse and deceive, one part to increase sexual stamina and one part to enhance fertility."

Director Graham could be heard muttering, "Jesus."

The General leaned back in her chair throwing her hands up. "Finally something that makes sense. They didn't want information from him; they want their own little Intersect's."

Director Graham frowned at the General's comments, but directed his words to the agents. "We'll have our doctors review Bartowski's medical records to determine if the genetic marker for subliminal recognition and retention can be passed on. In the mean time you will be changing your assignment Agent Walker."

"Sir?"

"Effective immediately you will be moving out of your current living quarters."

A brief flash of panic crossed her face before she could control it. "Am I being reassigned?"

"No you're not. You are moving in with Bartowski for the short term. When we can find a suitable location we will move you two out of his sister's apartment and into your own place. I assume Agent Casey has briefed you on the status of Mr. Bartowski's job?"

"Yes sir he has."

Casey's eyes widened almost imperceptibly on the topic of the move. "Sir, if I may, it might be prudent to keep Chuck at Agent Walker's for the short term until his hand is a little more healed. We wouldn't want his sister and boyfriend to figure out he had been shot."

Director Graham conceded the point. "That will be fine for now, as long as Agent Walker keeps him close." The General and the Director shared a look, but it was unclear what it was exchanged between the two.

"How will I handle my cover job? I can't exactly keep Chuck at work with me."

The Director responded. "We have arranged for some paid leave. You will be listed as gone on training."

General Beckham jumped back into the conversation. "I'm not in favor of this living together but Director Graham feels it would be prudent at this stage."

Sarah couldn't stop herself from asking, "I don't understand. Why now?"

General Beckham snapped back, obviously irritated, "While I'm not particularly fond of the idea, it shouldn't be hard to comprehend what is at stake here. Remote surveillance isn't enough. With Fulcrum still crawling around through the agencies and lurking in the compounds, a bunker is out of the question. That only leaves tighter hands on surveillance."

The Director continued, his calm demeanor contrasting visibly to the General's sour mood. "Of course that would mean that you will be stepping up your cover relationship accordingly."

Keeping her face expressionless, the only sign of discomfort was a slight stumble as Sarah spoke, "I...I see."

Casey held his face emotionless, while Sarah's eyes flicked back in forth as she tried to sort out her new instructions and how they impacted her current real relationship with Chuck.

The General continued with her surly attitude. "And Agent Walker...we trust you will be able to keep the _other _women out of his bed. God knows how many there are out there, but if you're sleeping with him in the same bed it should make things substantially more difficult to mistake you for someone else."

Sarah cleared her throat, while Casey took up staring at a remote spot just to the right of the monitor.

"Dismissed."

Casey broke the silence first as he turned to Sarah. "Never thought I'd hear that from Brass." Looking at her strange wild eyed expression he found he couldn't determine if she was scared or happy or something else entirely.

"Did you want to tell Bartowski the news or should I?" He smirked as she calmed slightly and gave him the 'I don't think so look' before turning to leave without answering.

"Have fun with that" he chuckled as she walked out the door.

Once she was gone, he let the smirk fade from his mouth, replacing it with a small frown. They were on borrowed time, but they didn't know it. He grabbed his cooking apron and slipped it over his head before pulling out the pans he needed, all the while mentally reviewing ways to circumvent his recently shelved instructions.

--o--

_A/N: A couple of things I wanted to note. Due to time constraints I'm placing on myself, I may be running into logic errors in the storyline. i.e. if the same thing was mentioned in an earlier chapter but the characters seemingly don't know they talked about it 3 chapters later. Please let me know if you find any. _

_On another point, I'm not sure if I will be able to get the third part of Revelations up in a day. I had to do some major work on it and it tackles a somewhat 'new' area of the Sarah/Chuck romance. The down side is that when chapters get to around the 6k mark, I like to split them. At this rate, I can easily make Revelations a 4 part piece. Unfortunately, that would mean only two pieces go up this weekend, while the 3rd and 4th would likely not be available until past the following weekend as I am attending my best friends wedding next weekend. I'll be gone from Wed-Sun. I will be taking my laptop, but there might not be any internet access. Either way, I'll do my best to keep working on the story. :)_

_Btw, I really didn't like the opening few lines of this chapter. It didn't flow right. It may change more than once over the next few days. :)_


	18. Revelations, Part 3

_A/N: Warning - Language and sexual references. These next couple of chapter parts will tie up several small loose ends. These chapters will also be entering a previously uncharted area in character growth. Hopefully everything goes smoothly as some of the topics are difficult to blend. Lol._

_NOTICE: THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REWRITTEN PARTIALLY AND RE-POSTED ON SEPT 20, 2008. The initial posting the previous week included a logic/location error in which multiple characters were sharing the same location at the same time. This has been corrected in the re-posting. You might want to reread this chapter as it includes another 500 or so words (about a page) and some of the new information might be used at a later date.  
_

**Chapter 17**

**Revelations, Part 3 **

Chuck surveyed his handiwork. He snorted. Ok his _hand _work. He couldn't exactly be very handy with only one hand, now could he. All in all he was pretty proud of himself. In under 20 minutes he had heated up some soup and was putting the finishing touches on the grilled cheese sandwiches when Sarah walked back in the door.

"Hey! Your just in time. I hope you like soup and grilled cheese sandwiches" he said smiling.

She walked towards the kitchen and rounding the corner of the counter in time to catch him as he flipped the sandwich over in the pan. With his left hand no less. For some reason it didn't surprise her. He always tried to make the best of it.

"So how did it go with the big guns?"

Knowing he was patiently waiting for a response, she walked to within arms reach before replying; touching his shoulder gently as she peered around him to see the food on the stove. "It was fine." She didn't bother to elaborate, mostly so she could give herself the time to assimilate the latest mission instructions.

He was immediately aware of her shift in mood from earlier but he let it go, knowing she would come around to filling him in when she was ready. "I've got lunch done. Give me a hand bringing it to the table?"

He felt her arms slip around his waist as her head rested on his back. "Sounds good."

Picking up the plate of sandwiches in his left hand, he spun in her grip and leaned down for a quick kiss. "Well then I hope you brought your appetite back from Casey's because it's ready to eat."

She stole another kiss from him before letting him continue on his way to the table while she followed holding the hot bowls of soup.

They ate in silence, Sarah staring off into space with a puzzling expression.

Chuck watched her eat. He wasn't' sure how to classify her look. She seemed to be in deep thought although he detected a bit of excitement and worry behind her eyes. He didn't know what had been said at the meeting but since then she had been preoccupied; not exactly distant, but more like she was just lost in her thoughts.

He wondered if it had anything to do with their argument and Casey shooting him. Thinking back to yesterday his memory started to fail him shortly after he downed Casey's Scotch. He did vaguely remember an argument and Sarah had slapped him for saying something. He also remembered getting shot. That hurt. Casey and Sarah had been in the bathroom to help fix his hand. Other than that everything was pretty fuzzy right up until just after the doctor had given him the shot.

The purpose of the needle was supposedly to sober him up, the doctor had said. Obviously it had worked because he remembered a lot of things after that. The biggest ones to stand out involved a shower with Sarah and a spur of the moment BJ in the middle of the night.

Watching her stare into space he couldn't help feeling that maybe he was missing something; something important enough to warrant meetings without him and Sarah to be a little off since. He vaguely remembered someone say that between the narcotics and the drinking, it was unlikely he would remember much.

Of course he hadn't really tried to remember much and they weren't exactly pressuring him about it either, which was strange. _They always pushed..._

He stopped to correct his thoughts_. Ok, Sarah asked, but Casey always pushed for answers_. This time they were treating it like a hot potato. Well if they wouldn't dig, there was no reason he couldn't try doing it on his own. He knew Sarah was involved in it so he could use his new ability without fear of the massive pain like the previous day when he accidently pulled up the _other _memories. He found it slightly ironic that here he was attempting to do the very thing that got him in trouble in the first place; retrieve buried memories.

His decision made, he pushed ahead and focused on her as she ate the soup. She was unaware as he watched her eat; the familiar tingling flowed over him and she faded from sight to be replaced by the memory of the previous evening.

_Sarah is standing at his bedroom door, her face cold and strange. She is yelling and with a mental flex he turns the sound off, watching in silence as she moves towards him. Her movements are aggressive and hesitant at the same time, almost as if she is only responding to stimuli._

_He watches himself back away and stumble, using the desk as a brace to hold himself up. Her face has changed and become angry. He had seen her mad before but this time it's somehow different. He paused the memory and studied her face, specifically the eyes. She always spoke volumes with the eyes. That's when he saw it. _

_He immediately restarted the entire memory from the beginning, but this time he focused his entire attention on her eyes, letting the scene unfold before him. _

_He paused after the slap, jogging the memory back and forth to just before and just after. The eyes give her away and it is the strongest there just before the slap. There is much anger in her eyes, but the pain and sadness is much, much more prevalent and easy to see before it is hidden by the anger.. He had hurt her much more than she cared to admit, instead using the anger to strike out._

_Jumping forward he finds himself on the floor looking up into her face after the slap. He can see her indecision and confusion. _

_Jumping again, he finds a similar memory after the shot, and with him lying in the tub. Sarah is frantically checking him for wounds and when she meets his eyes again he sees something different. He sees the fear. It is there when she reached into the bathtub to pull him up and hold him. He reactivated the sound in the memory and her whispered words name the fears. The fear of his dying. The fear of being the cause of his death. The fear of rejection. The fear of being alone. The fear of being without him. _

"Chuck? Chuck?" He felt a hand shake his shoulder quite violently. "Chuck?"

_More fear, _he thinks. Shaking off the memory he found himself looking directly into Sarah's worried face and was enveloped by Sarah as she pulled him in close, speaking as she held him.

"Chuck. Where did you go? I was calling you and you were staring off into space. I thought you were just lost in thought; at least I did until I realized you had stopped blinking. I came around the table and moved your chair but you didn't even see me. I thought you might be having an Intersect melt down. Another few seconds and I was ready to call Casey."

The corners of his mouth pulled up in a weak attempt at a smile, as he wrapped his arms around her. "You were worried", he told her.

"Of course I was worried." She said misunderstanding what he was commenting on. "What were you thinking about that made slip so far away?"

"I wasn't thinking", he said quietly. "I was remembering." He felt her body tighten. A few short days ago he might not have noticed the tension, but now, he felt so much closer; as if he could feel every muscle in her body without touching her.

Her voice is hushed and uncharacteristically hesitant as she speaks into his shirt, not lifting her head from his chest. "Remembering what exactly?"

"A certain CIA agent chatting with me in my bedroom late yesterday afternoon."

She sighed but didn't release him. "That's being a little obtuse Chuck. I guess I should tell you that the doctor said you wouldn't be able to recall much of yesterday. Don't worry about it. It's best forgotten."

He pulled in a deep breath, blinking slowly, before leaning back and forcing her to look up into his eyes. "About that." He paused, exhaling loudly. "Sarah, I'm not exactly the same with the Intersect in my head."

"What do you mean by 'not the same'? Of course you're not the same."

"That's not exactly what I'm trying to say. I'm saying I can see things. Not Intersect stuff, but memories."

Her eyes widened and her head cocked to one side almost imperceptibly. Laslo's warnings came back to haunt her once more.

"My memories to be exact."

She released her breath, not realizing she had been holding it and relaxed into him. The right side of her mouth climbed upwards slightly, as did her right eyebrow. "And how, Mr. Intersect is that different from anyone else on the entire planet?" She teased.

He didn't return her smile; keeping his face entirely devoid of feeling he responded. "Because I can see the memories_ like they are a movie. _I can forward, rewind or pause them. I don't even have to be awake or in the light to remember. I see, hear, feel and smell everything in the memory_ exactly as it happened_."

Her smile disappeared and apprehension leaked from her voice and eyes. "What do you mean you can see them as they happened?"

"It only seems to work with memories of you. I can't pull up any memories of anything or anyone else the same way. But if you're in the memory I can watch it again and again; it's all in here." He pointed to his head. "Right down to the smallest detail."

He watched as she absorbed the information. Her face changing from the Sarah he loves, to the agent he knows as she analyses all the angles. Good and bad. Her eyes suddenly widen and glaze as she puts the memory recall into perspective. Holding back any tears, her voice is surprisingly monotone as she asks. "Does that mean you can remember everything from the other night?"

"Yes."

"How small is smallest detail in the memory Chuck?"

"I can replay the entire event, down to the words spoken, the steps taken, even the number of times your gun bounced before it came to a stop."

She was holding her breath as he said it. She began to step back, her agent facade close to breaking as her emotions begin to overwhelm her.

His arms tightened, refusing to allow her backward movement to continue. "And where do you think you're going?"

"Chuck I know...I know you must feel _differently_ after remembering that. I wouldn't expect you to feel the same after what I did."

"Your right. I do feel differently." He admits, nodding.

Placing her hands on his chest she pushed in an effort to break away from his arms. "Let me go."

He cocked his head to the side ignoring her plea.

"Let me go. Please Chuck." Her face is turned but he can see her eyes leaking slowly as she fights to free herself from his grasp.

"Sarah. Stop. I feel differently because I love you that much more." Her reaction is instant as she stops struggling, instead turning to face him, her eyes now red and she gives a bitter response. "Don't lie to me Chuck. How could you love me after what I did."

"I'm not lying. I was there. I _remember _your face. Your eyes. Sarah I could see the pain sitting just under the anger. I know you were trying to make me feel what you felt. Sarah, I heard the fear in your voice. I know you have trouble with relationships and while I may not be perfect, I am not going to give up on you."

"But Chuck you didn't-". He placed a finger on her lips to shush her.

"I know. It also didn't change the fact that you lashed out from pain, not from hatred or jealousy." A small smile curved his lips as his tone brightened, cheering her considerably. "Of course I can't deny their presence, but I can say there were not the major players. Speaking of players; don't you have something to tell me?"

Shaking her head slowly side to side, "I don't understand. What more do I have to tell you? The only big secret I had was that I love you and you already pulled that one out of me. Yesterday's memories weren't a secret, but it wasn't something I wanted to deal with. Other than that I have no idea what other secret you think I have." A small grin appeared under the pressure of his teasing.

Raising an eyebrow his face becoming very haughty. "Reaallllllly. And here I thought you could tell me why my orange juice tastes like hair spray every four hours like clockwork."

The grin dropped from her face immediately. _Oh my god. No wonder the doctor was acting odd about hiding the doses. I never did ask him if there was a taste._ "Chuck I can explain."

"And suddenly my girlfriend has something to share...", he chuckled.

"I was just trying to-"

Her explanation was cut off by his lips crashing into hers. When he finally pulled away he spoke softly. "I have a pretty good idea why you did it, but next time, I'd prefer you fight me to take it rather than slip it into my orange juice. Deal?"

She looked up into his face awestruck. _How did I ever get so lucky to have him? _"Deal, but Chuck I don't know if I'll ever be as good as you deserve." She whispered.

His finger brushed her lips moving down to caress her cheek. "Don't worry, were working on that, and in case you are wondering; I haven't stopped loving you because of the orange juice incident either." He leaned forward to place his lips over hers more gently this time. Pulling back he saw her eyes were closed, the tears already drying on her cheeks. As her eyelids fluttered back open, he grinned from ear to ear.

"Besides, don't you owe me?"

--o--

Devon stood at the end of the counter, watching Ellie as she scrambled to cut and prepare for the upcoming meal. "So tell me again why we are making dinner at John's apartment?"

Ellie was pulled out roasting pan from underneath the cupboard and sighed. "For the third time, Sarah is over and from what I saw through the window I don't think it's a good idea to interrupt them right now."

Devon muttered under his breath, "This is definitely not my idea of awesome." The noise of the pots clanking helped cover his muttering. He raised his voice again to be heard. "Well then can you tell me how you have a key to John's apartment?"

She pulled the washed carrots from the sink and dropped them on the cutting board. "John gave it to me on the weekend. He said if I ever needed to get out of the house in a hurry I could hang out here."

"Uh, babe. Didn't you find it _odd."_

Ellie turned to the sink to gather more washed vegetables and hide the guiltily look she knew was on her face. She kept the water running to hide the waver in her voice. "No. John's almost like family. Besides he seems to get along well with you." With her back turned she didn't his jaw drop when she said he was like family.

He spun to face the living room. _Is that a family friend or a family member? _ While he tried to sort his thoughts and give himself time to recover he couldn't help but notice all the electronics in the apartment. He hadn't expected to see so much, but then again he did work at the Buy More and what guy didn't have at least _some_ electronics. He took a breath. _Time to attack this head on. _"So why are we having this dinner?"

Busy cutting carrots, she didn't bother to look up. "What do you mean?"

He began to walk towards her at the counter. "There's no special occasion. Usually we call it Salsa night or Movie night or something. This time, nothing."

Ellie's cell beeped indicating a text message arriving.

"Devon, be a dear and check my cell please. I'm waiting for a message from Chuck." She continued to pull baby potatoes out of the bag and place them into the sink to wash them. "And since when do we need something special to invite Sarah? I for one am just happy he seems to have a real girlfriend for once. Not like that untrustworthy Jill. "

Devon grabbed her cell off of the counter and flipped through it to see the message. "Is John bringing anything? And Chuck's message only says 'now'."

"Crap. Okay let me wash up." She rinsed her hands and turned off the water, wiping her hands on her apron. "John? No. Did you ask him to come? I was hoping to keep it between us and Chuck and Sarah."

"So you didn't invite John?"

Ellie walked over and grabbed the cell from Devon.

"No and I hope you didn't. That would be awkward. Don't get me wrong, I know you like talking your _guy stuff _with John and I like him too. When it comes to dinner guests I prefer him over Morgan, but still, I want to get to know my little brothers girlfriend, you know? She looks like _the one _and I want to get to know the sister I never had."

"Then what's going on with John?"

"Devon what are you talking about?"

"Exactly! What are _you talking about with John?"_

Ellie stopped what she was doing to turn and face Devon.

"Did I miss something? Why do I get the feeling we are talking about different things."

"Look Ellie. If you don't want to marry me say so."

"What! Where did you get that idea? And so help me if you say Morgan-"

"I know you didn't stay at the hospital the other night."

"Wait, you know ...". She flipped open her phone and hit speed dial.

"I also know you have been talking to John a lot lately. You even have the key to his apartment!"

"Have you been spying on me?" Without waiting for a response she held up her left hand while the cell rang on Chucks end. "Chuck it's me. Dinner. Tonight. Ok? Bye." She flipped it closed and put her hand down, raising her eyebrows while waiting for a response.

Devon was not quite sure what was going on now, other than it was not exactly like he had pictured the discussion. "No. Well not exactly spying. I just noticed you've been tired, stressed and slightly distant. Then I talked to Trish the other night and told her that I was going to surprise you after your shift."

"You talked to Trish about me? And what surprise? You never met me after my shift."

"Well, Trish was assisting during surgery. And you didn't get the surprise because you weren't there. It wasn't like I didn't try. And then there was the weird way Trish talked about the staff rooting for me. I did a little research with some of the others and that's when I found out about the bet the staff have going. Right after that I come home to find you hugging John in the apartment."

"Wait. You know about the bet?"

"Don't you dare tell me you have money in that too. That would be so totally the opposite of awesome."

"Devon, that's just a silly bet. It's only between a couple of those jock guys you hang with at the hospital. "

"Ellie. I saw the list."

"Wait. There's a list? Exactly how many people are on this _list?"_

"The whole ward is in on it. Including part time interns, it was at about 105 names when I saw it."

"WHAT!"

"I take it you didn't know."

"Of course I didn't know. The last I heard a couple of your buddies had joked about you sticking around to marry me. I told them to shove the idea where the sun doesn't shine. I didn't know they were going to go public with it and start their own freaking betting pool for the entire hospital."

"Actually it is only our ward-" She gave him a stare that brooked no quarter. "Right. It's all bad," he agreed.

"So does this mean you're not having an affair with John and you still want to marry me?"

Ellie gave him a kick to the leg.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"What do you think! Of course I want to marry you and just because I'm talking to John doesn't mean I'm automatically having an affair. For your information, John noticed Chuck was acting weird last week. Sarah had not been around much when Chuck was off after the incident with Sarah and his chest injury. When I talked to Chuck about it there was some kind of miscommunication between him and Sarah. I helped correct it by spending some time with Sarah while John kept Chuck busy."

"The key is so _we_ can avoid Chuck and Sarah. They don't have their own place and some things just need to play out naturally."

Ellie placed her hands on his arms. "I know I sometimes treat Chuck like a little kid, but I worry about him. With us getting married and him with his own girlfriend, I didn't want you to think of me as the meddling old sister that can't keep her nose out of Chuck's business."

"Oh. Oh! Awesome." He lunged for her, wrapping his arms around her to lift her up for a kiss.

Breaking the kiss, he pulled back, but kept his arms around her. "How about we go for a run and shower before dinner?"

Ellie looked directly into his face and patted his chest. "As awesome as that sounds, I don't think we're in the position to use John's shower and bed."

"Oh. Right. Sorry babe, I guess I got carried away."

"Tell you what. As soon as they leave, we take the stuff back to our place and when it's back up and running, we'll just skip right to the shower and celebrating."

"That sounds delicious."

"Well than Dr. Stud. Get over here and help me cook. John keeps his apron behind that cupboard door right there." She pointed behind her to a long pantry type door.

Opening it he pulled out full apron and read the front. "Kill to Grill? Wow, I didn't know he liked meat so much."

"Speaking of meat, you're in charge of the roast." She smacked his ass. "Get cracking mister."

--o--

"_Pardon me_?" She asked, bewildered by his question.

"I said don't you owe me? If I remember correctly you were going to stop by the other night for more just than talking."

"I was?" She asked, as her eyes lit up.

"You were" he mumbled into her neck as he slowly started to nibble on it.

"I was..." she breathed huskily, letting him continue.

He slowly worked his way down her neck as she tilted her head back to give him access to the base of her throat. Her breathing becoming steady and heavy, hitching only once when his hand slipped into her pants. His mouth finding hers, their tongues fought for dominance as she felt his hand massage her in ways that made her knees weak.

Leaning forward towards him for support her breathing coming in small short gasps, she almost didn't hear his cell ring.

She was so close, _so close_, until his hand suddenly disappeared.

Her eyes popped open upon hearing him say "Hello". It took a few seconds for her eyes to focus and her brain to comprehend what was going on. _He answered the phone! What. The. Fuck!_

"Yah, we can do dinner. When tonight?"...

"That would be great."...

Chuck hung up the phone. "That was Ellie she-" He stopped when he saw her face. She didn't look happy.

"You answered a phone call from your _sister?"_

"Umm, yah?"

"Chuck I think I need to lay some ground rules."

"Ok." He said slowly. "Ground rules on what and why do we need them? It's only for supper."

"Just because I have sporadic issues about whether I deserve someone like you doesn't mean you can answer the phone whenever you damn well feel like it. The ground rules are so I don't pissed at you for stopping during certain recreational activities."

"You mean sex, don't you?"

She raised an eyebrow. Obviously the PDA improvement applied to speaking it too. "That's exactly what I mean."

He pursed his lips. "So necking and feeling you up falls under the 'sex' definition?"

"Definitely."

"So if you and I are having 'sex', by your definition, and say Director Graham was to call, you wouldn't take the call?"

Her lips pursed. "No Chuck. That's totally different."

"Different how exactly? Wouldn't he be interrupting 'sex' and you answered the phone?"

"Well yes, but-"

"So my sister is less important than Director Graham?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"Well no, but in this case yes."

"I don't know but wouldn't that constitute a double standard?"

_Where the hell is this coming from? _"Chuck. It could be important. Someone might be coming to kill us."

"So how many times has that happened?" He said.

"What happened?" she replied, catching her off guard.

"It's a simple question. How many times have you been called by Director Graham or any senior official, during sex, and been told by the individual calling that your life is in danger."

Her reaction was pure defensive instinct and unfortunately a very poor lie. "Lots." Chuck's face told her how much he believed of that.

"Then you won't mind if I confirm that with the Intersect?" His face shifting to become impassive and emotionless.

"Chuck you can't..." Her voice trailed off, as his eyebrows raised and his head tilted down, as if waiting for her to say 'go'.

She pursed her lips before turning it into a grimace and snapped out a response. "Ok. Fine. Never. He has never phoned to say my life is in danger during sex."

"Not even during a mission?"

She sighed, not quite believing how easily he had pulled the truth from her. "No, especially not during a mission."

He suddenly smiled. "Well since this _is_ a mission of sorts..." He let the words hang as he released her and turned to begin clearing the table.

"Okay already. You win", she muttered sourly.

Putting the last bowl into the sink, he came back and slipped an arm around her, grinning. "I don't want to _win_, I simply want to make sure we're both on the same side."

She tilted her head back to look at him. "From where I stand it looks like same side, means your side." She grouched.

"Hey don't be like that." He gave her a quick peck on the lips. She responded with a petulant look.

"Besides. It's not your fault I stacked the deck in my favor." His smile grew larger as he spoke.

Her eyelids squinted slightly, "What do you mean 'stacked the deck'?"

Well one might think were moving pretty fast over the last day or so but I tend to think of it as an opportunity for growth. You know clear the air of any more major misunderstandings before they happen."

He shrugged his right shoulder but he kept his left arm around her, checking his grip before speaking. "Ellie called earlier today while you were talking to the doctor. She wanted to know if we could be home for dinner tonight. I already told her yes, but wanted her to call me later today. I called her again while you were at Casey's to make sure she was ready. When the timing was right I sent her a blank text message and that was her cue to call." He made a point to look at his watch and back at Sarah before continuing. "All in all, I would say I did a pretty darn good job of timing it just right."

Sarah's mouth was hanging open.

"I was a little worried near the end though. Ellie didn't know why she was supposed to call and I was afraid I would get you off before Ellie could phone." His grin widened until you could see all the teeth.

"You planned to be interrupted?"

"Of course. Besides, you were supposed to be taking care of me, remember."

"Care of you! What about early this morning!"

"Oh that. That was just a quick release so I could sleep. It hardly counted." He chuckled.

She pulled him into a close hug putting her mouth next to his ear her words low and aggressive, "You know Chuck. It's not a good idea to keep me from sex too long."

His smile began to fade, his eyes bulging slightly as he suddenly became a little less confident, stumbling out the question. "Wh..why's that?"

Her teeth nipped at his ear and neck. "Remember when I said that I have certain 'rights' as a girlfriend." She answered in a somewhat guttural growl.

"Ahh...yah." Pulling his head back to see her face. Her fierce expression was making him more than a little nervous. "Sarah?"

Holding his head with both hands she looked directly into his eyes. Her voice still low, "Maybe I forgot to tell I get a little aggressive when my boyfriend is holding out on me and I haven't had any in a while."

"Umm...how aggressive are we talk-". She cut him off by smashing her lips into his.

"Mmph", he yelled before jumping out of her embrace. "Sarah you bit my lip!"

"That's not all that's going to get bitten, if you don't put out."

He began a quick back peddling down the hall to the bedroom. "You wouldn't dare-" He stopped speaking as she raised her right eyebrow and advanced like a lioness on the hunt. He turned and ran for the bedroom, but she caught him at the door when he forgot and inadvertently tried to use the bandaged right hand to open it.

She spun him around and ripped open his shirt before he could stop her. He slipped his left hand behind his back and turned the knob just as she undid the button of his pants and grabbed hold of the waist band.

He fell backwards through the door as she pulled down his pants, the momentum carrying both into the room and onto the floor.

"Dude, your still going at it? I thought she was kidding about that bad girl stuff. I had no idea."

Both heads on the floor shifted to see Morgan straddling Chuck's window, his mouth open his eyes bugging out at the sight before him. The look Sarah gave Morgan was much colder than Chuck's and in the blink of an eye a blade buried itself hilt deep in the window sill next to his leg.

Morgan was out the window and running before anyone could speak.

Chuck was shocked. "What the hell was that? Did you really need to throw a knife at him?"

"Yes." She stood up. "Get dressed. We're leaving."

"I thought you wanted to-" He stopped speaking when she looked at him. "Right, getting dressed."

She pulled the knife from the window sill and closed and locked it. Turning she found him dressed again, albeit with a slightly ripped shirt. "Let's go."

"Where?"

"Our place."

"Uhh...where's that and since when is it _our place?"_

"Since we were ordered to move in together and don't touch me." The last part she said as he reached out to take her hand as she passed him on the way out the bedroom.

He followed with a mix of elation and hurt riding on his face. "Why can't I touch you? Did I do something wrong? I was just playing."

She kept her face forward. She grimaced and spoke through her teeth. "I wasn't entirely kidding earlier. If you touch me, I might not be able to stop myself from taking you right here, right now."

"Oh."

--o--

Hearing a door slam Devon was just able to see Sarah speed walk by John's apartment window with Chuck in a near jog to keep up. "Babe. They just walked towards the parking lot."

"Oh good. You run ahead and fire up the stove and oven. I'll start packing up the stuff for transport."

Within a few minutes, everything was back in place at their apartment.

"I left a note for John. We'll return his pots tomorrow." Satisfied everything was cooking she spun into Devon, slipping her arms around his waist. "It will take a little extra time for the oven to heat up and continue cooking the roast. What say you and I utilize that extra time with a shower for starters?"

He skipped the usual awesome retort and jumped right into a kiss.

--o--

Chuck kept glancing over at Sarah. Between the fidgeting and sweaty palm of his un-bandaged hand, he didn't know what to do. Sarah hadn't said a word since leaving his apartment. Now they were in the elevator and she stared straight ahead. Cool as a cucumber.

He couldn't wait any longer. He had to do something and since he wasn't allowed to touch, that only left talking. "So what am I supposed to tell Morgan about the knife."

"Nothing. He stopped by last night while Casey went back to his place to pick up some clotting agent for your wound. In order to get rid of him I kind of implied that I liked aggressive sex and you were just being very obliging. I think the escalation to the knife was warranted on a second go around."

The elevator stopped and dinged once as the door opened for their floor. She was already two steps ahead on the way to the room before he even stepped out the door. She wasted no time in opening the apartment door, but held it for him to enter.

"Ok. Now what?" He said as he turned to face her.

"You have to ask?"

"Can I at least take off my own pants?"

"No." She pushed him on the bed, yanking his pants off in one fluid motion before pulling her own off and jumping on him.

"Sarah?"

"Mmmph?" She mumbled in his neck as she bit it.

"I'm kind of allergic to pain."

Sitting up on Chuck she helped him move into a more comfortable position. "Don't worry Chuck. We can always get more pills from the doctor." She leered.

"That's so not _helping_."

"Maybe this will." She ground her hips into his. "See. Works every time", she grinned as she lowered herself towards his neck.

--o--

_Footnote: I actually had this chapter ready to go Wednesday Sept 9, 2008 before I left for my best friend's wedding. Tshadow read an early draft, but like me, didn't catch the logic error until well after I had posted it. He actually reviewed a huge chunk of my stories to help me out with the posting of the following chapter and caught the logic/location error on reread. A couple of others pointed it out since. Hopefully you find the revision fix acceptable.  
_

_This chapter, like the last few, has exceeded the approximate 3500 word count I try to limit myself to. With the revision I should be pushing 6000 again. Sorry. Silly near sex scenes take up so much space. lol_


	19. Revelations, Part 4

_A/N: Warning. Sex and language warnings apply as usual. _

**Chapter 18**

**Revelations Part 4**

Chuck dozed while she slipped into the shower. She wanted to take a bit extra time to make sure she was looking her best for dinner tonight. After all they had some big news to talk about with Ellie and Devon.

Of course the outfit she picked was more for Chuck than the news they were going to present. She pulled a short tight skirt from the closet and matched it with a royal blue short-sleeved top. The neckline was a little steeper than she would normally wear for a family dinner but it would do. She glanced at Chuck sprawled face down on the bed and smirked. She considered pushing him out of bed to get ready but he needed his rest for tonight.

She took the clothes into the bathroom and stepped into the skirt. Pulling the top off the hanger, she turned to the mirror and immediately noticed a problem. Going into the shower, she never turned around to face the mirror. Coming out of the shower the mirror was covered in steam; steam which has since cleared, leaving her with some very conspicuous bruises. Leaning forward she surveyed Chuck's handiwork on her neck. The bruising was near the base, but in more than one spot. She had forgotten how good it felt and how bad it looked.

The skirt came off and was tossed on the counter with the blouse. Another visit to the closet yielded a pencil skirt and a blouse very similar to the one she wore when she first met Chuck. At least it had a collar. She had wanted something a little more provocative for the skirt, but the high cut slit on the right would have to do. She would just make sure that she sat on Chuck's left side. Thoughts of Chuck's hand slipping into the slit on her skirt sent her heart racing. She considered a cold shower before waking Chuck, but decided against it.

The sex with Chuck earlier had been short and surprisingly exhausting. It had taken the immediate _edge _off and she felt much more relaxed. It took quite a bit of effort to get up for the shower but now that she was ready, she felt more energetic and could tease him into getting ready.

Being careful not to disturb him she climbed back onto the bed; moving close, enjoying the contact with his body, her right arm laying on him, her hand moving lazily over his back. It was almost time to go. He had time to clean himself up and they would be out the door. Chuck had wanted to get there early to see if she needed a hand and Sarah found herself actually craving more girl time with Ellie.

At least the talking and visiting would be fun and it would help repress her urge for more sex with Chuck until a more appropriate time. She tried to console herself by thinking about how she would be back in bed with Chuck tonight. Now that they had initiated themselves in the fires of need, she wanted the next time to be consummated in the slow burn of passion. Her body was already tensing in anticipation.

She was reminded that she still had a small subject to broach with Chuck about her past. It was somewhat important that he understand a bit of her history. Enough of herself was being invested in him that she felt it would be better to say it now than later.

Forcing her heart to slow, she considered the next topic she wanted to discuss with him and it had nothing to do with sex. Well, maybe not exactly nothing.

"Chuck?" She waited till he turned to face her, noting his dreamy look. The euphoria he exuded helped buoy her enough to continue speaking.

"Yah?" He slowly murmured.

"I you need to get up for Ellie's but I have to talk to you first."

"Now?" he mumbled into the pillow.

"You have to shower and change and I have a confession to make."

His snapped around to face her, fully awake; raising an eyebrow, but saying nothing. _Wow. Quiet and attentive. He's getting better at this, _she thought.

"I." She stopped. He waited patiently until she simply blurted it out as fast as she could, "I have a temper I should have told you sooner I'm sorry."

He was quiet for a few seconds before he started to laugh. It started small, like a chuckle but quickly gained strength, evolving into the kind of stomach wrenching laugh that you can't stand up with.

She frowned and punched his shoulder. "Chuck! I'm being serious."

The laughter slowed a bit, at least it did until he opened his eyes to look at her. He had closed them in an effort to control the laughter. It had worked until he peeked and found her staring at him with her most serious game face on.

He redoubled his laughter and promptly fell out of bed as he rolled to face away from her. "Ack!"

Within seconds she was laughing almost hard. When they finally stopped he was the first to speak, sitting up on the floor.

"I'm sorry Sarah, but that was like saying the sky is blue. I kind of already guessed that. In and out of bed."

Her reply was dry and sarcastic. "Thanks Chuck, but I kind of got that".

"Obviously you've had this _problem_ with your temper for a while...?"

She knew he was making light of the situation, but it really was a little more serious than he implied. She looked into his the depths of his eyes, watching them twinkle in amusement. Filling her lungs, she began with a small history lesson.

"I used to get in a lot of trouble for it. My temper I mean. People usually referred to me as a firecracker or a natural born red head in disguise. At least that's what they called me to my face."

"The less polite phrases usually centered around my mood and links to PMS, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The comments escalated into references about my escape from Juvenile hall."

Chuck's eyebrows peaked. "You?"

Sarah flattened her mouth. "No. But that didn't stop them from saying it."

As she spoke the smile slid off of his face and was replaced by a small frown. Reaching his good hand out from under the blanket, he caressed her cheek. "Why were they saying that?"

"I had some problems with emotions." Her eyes flicked to the side and when they repositioned themselves on Chuck she corrected herself. "Ok, maybe more than _some. _More like a lot of problems. I got jealous at the slightest things and had a tendency to take it out on my boyfriend. The tougher kids just called me a crazy bitch, mainly because they knew I couldn't take them down. The rest of the kids avoided me or they would get their ass kicked."

Like a cat, she paused to move her head towards his caress before continuing. She was talking steadily, as if reciting facts from a book.

"I had a strong affinity for stalking my boyfriends and kicking their ass if I thought they were cheating on me."

His eyes popped open a little wider. "Wow."

"It sounds cooler than it was. The kids at school didn't think it was so great. Especially if I was wrong about the cheating, which I usually was. Of course I usually didn't know until after I had beaten them up and the entire school found out."

"The worst time was when I was dating the star quarterback and he really did cheat on me with a neighboring school's cheerleader. He was popular and pretty tough. When I confronted him he admitted it like it was nothing. Even told me to get used to it. He liked to play on and off the field."

"I had to change schools late in my senior year because of it. They kicked me out after I broke his arms."

Chuck's eye's grew exceedingly large and he couldn't stop himself from glancing at his own arms.

Sarah pursed her lips and kept talking while she reached to him on the floor and pulled him up to the bed beside her. "He never told anyone who did it and nobody could prove it was me, but everyone knew it. In the end I guess that was a good thing." She looked down and grasped his left hand with her right.

She looked back into his eyes. "It was one of the main reasons I joined the CIA. I learned to control my emotions and how to effectively channel the anger towards people that deserved it. Of course that didn't help me with my actual problem." She blushed a little and gave him a peck on the lips. "I have you for that."

Chuck gave a very weak smile, but his eyes appeared troubled. "I see. This could be awkward. I'm already down a hand and you've learned how to use a gun since high school. Maybe you could do me a favor and flip your agent switch for me please."

Sarah moved her head back from his to get a better look. He didn't look like he was kidding. "What's this about Chuck?"

"Sarah, please. I'd rather you were dealing with this as an agent. If you can't do that for me, then I tell Casey first."

The look of shock on her was profound. To say that to her face meant Chuck was not kidding and the news would likely be somewhat emotional if he was asking for her to be an 'agent' about it.

Steeling her emotions, she slipped into the role as he requested. She stopped the movement of her hand and pulled it away, choosing to rest it on his arm instead. "Ok Chuck. What is it?"

It was an odd sensation for Chuck to watch her face take on that blank look he had hated so often in the past. "You know how I couldn't identify who had...who had stopped by my room the last few nights?"

"Yes" came the terse reply.

"While I think I can now."

"Chuck how can you remember? I thought it only worked with me in the room?"

"I can and that's right." He grabbed her hand, massaging it with his thumb as he spoke. His face scrunched up slightly as if bracing for bad news. "You know during, well during... us... you and me..." He puffed out some air, obviously frustrated at himself. "When we had sex a little while ago."

Confused, she answered. "I was there Chuck. What are you getting at?"

"My brain sort of did a comparison to...to the other times."

"A comparison?" Her voice volume rose considerably. "What other times?" Her eyelids tightened together, but her face remained serious.

He spoke very quickly and quietly, "More like a comparison to the times with Mary." He bit down on his tongue while he watched her react.

Sarah froze for a moment, her pupils actually seeming to shrink as he watched. If he didn't know any better he would swear her hand had actually gotten cold.

"I only know one Mary unless you can clarify the existence of others; I have to ask which Mary are we talking about here?"

He was looking straight into her eyes as he spoke. His words stumbled out of his mouth but his gaze was solid. "Uh, the Mary that was assisting the Doctor that held us captive. The same Mary that helped us escape from that _situation_. The same Mary that was at the hospital room in the basement where I was recovering when you came to see me. The same Mary that was at my house on Monday through Wednesday morning."

For her part, Chuck was impressed. Her eyes were already rimmed red, but she seemed in control. For now.

She swallowed and spoke slowly. "And how did you identify Mary. I thought you couldn't see her in the memories before."

"I still can't. She spoke and it matches up with some memories of the facility we were held in. There was a memory or two where she was present in the room and I could see you with Casey in the other room. She was talking while I was watching you. That coupled with my normal memories of her were enough to match her voice."

"And this just came to you."

He thought he detected a hint of anger, but again, her face didn't reflect it. "Almost exactly like that."

She looked more than a little skeptical and her tone became suddenly deadly sweet. "Come on Chuck. I'm sure you can describe it in a little more detail than that."

He swallowed. It was harder to talk about than he had anticipated. "My brain sort of made the connections when I...when I..." He stopped unable to get the words out.

"When you what?" She pushed, the frustration leaking out.

He raised his eyebrows, and gave her his best puppy dog eyes. "Right at the end."

"At the...you have got to be kidding me!"

"He squeezed her hand. Would you be mad if I said no, I'm not kidding?"

She didn't speak for a moment. "So when it happened, what exactly happened?"

"I don't know how to explain it. It was like a flash. I felt completely content and then BAM! I had a super weird flash. Like my brain was being reset on every memory that had you in it. At the same time, all the differences between you and Mary seemed to stand out like night and day. Then as suddenly as it happened it left and everything became... No. Everything about just felt right. The differences stayed seemed to stay as a different memory."

"Your sure it was Mary?"

"Positive."

"Ok, get in the shower and use the special bag I put out for your hand. I'll pull clothes for you. You have five minutes."

Chuck moved immediately. In light of the nature of their previous topics, he didn't think it wise to question her on how much time he had.

By the time Chuck exited the bathroom she already had makeup on and hair pulled back into a bun. She looked stunning and she knew it. So did Chuck. She had to physically turn him towards his clothes and give him a push to stop him from staring.

"Close your mouth and get dressed we have a dinner to go to. I'll call Casey on the way to let him know it was Mary. Now that we know what she looks like and when and where she was for at least a little while, maybe he can retrieve some hospital footage of her." She turned and moved towards the bathroom for some last minute things.

Chuck glanced wistfully over his shoulder while he reached for his pants. With his attention split between his bandaged hand and the pants he was attempting to put on, he hadn't noticed her still sitting on the bed until he turned around to look for his shirt. "Sarah?"

She spoke quietly as she looked out the hotel window and over the sprawling city. "I met her Chuck. At the hospital. She was polite, intelligent and stunningly beautiful." She began to stand.

He crawled across the bed and came up behind her to grab her arm. She didn't look at him, but she didn't pull away either. "Sarah are you ok with this?"

"Would you be hurt if I said no?" She said in a partial mimic of his line from earlier.

"Would you be hurt if I said yes to your no?"

_Again he is thinking of me. _She turned back to face him; her face slightly quizzical but holding a tiny smile. "You have got to be the strangest boyfriend I have ever had."

Taking that as a good sign he asked something that had been sitting in the back of his mind for while. "Speaking of strange; Sarah, can you answer me one question?"

"What is it Chuck?"

"Why did you want to sleep with me so fast, knowing that I had just been seduced by another woman?"

It took a while for her to answer, but she stared at his face the entire time. She pulled in a deep breath and sat back on the bed before she spoke.

"Chuck, I've been waiting to be with you for months. I could have been in your bed the first night if wanted. It wouldn't have been what you wanted, and in retrospect it wasn't what I would've wanted either. It doesn't change the fact that because I pushed you away and we kept getting interrupted, you ended up sleeping with someone else first."

She grasped his arms. "_Your mine Chuck. Mine. _ I'm sorry if that sounds possessive, but that's the way I see it. Up until recently I had given up everything for my job and I simply don't want to have to share you too. At least not that way. I saw no reason to delay things any longer, letting everyone else simply step in front of me to receive whatever you had to offer."

She slid her hands down to his. "From now on, I won't be just protecting the asset, I am protecting my best friend and my lover and there are going to be some things I simply will not share."

He reached his hand around her shoulder, pulling her to him for a hug. "Have I told you how much I love you."

"Not in the last 20 minutes."

He chuckled. Well then I guess I'm due. His lips barely touched hers as he whispered his statement of love.

--o--

"I'm telling you the truth." He pleaded from entryway to her apartment.

Her hand still on the open door, Anna snarled at him. "Morgan. Do you really expect me to believe you that Sarah and Ellie are out to get you?"

"Well ok, maybe 'out to get me' is a little strong, but Sarah threatened me twice. She even threw a knife at me. And Ellie...Ellie tried to run me down outside Chuck's parking lot."

"You know what I think! I think you just want me to take you back and are so desperate you'll say anything. How long ago was it when you claimed Sarah was smuggling drugs ? Wasn't that like two days ago."

"Well maybe, but everyone makes mistakes. This time it's the truth. I do want you sugar cakes, but you've got to believe me. Look. If we go to Chuck's I can show you where the knife was stuck. Would you believe me then?"

"So help me if you're pulling my chain..." She made a fist with her right hand and placed the left over it. A slight squeeze and multiple pops and cracks echoed in the entranceway.

Morgan dropped to his knees clasping his hands together and motioning them back and forth towards her. "I'm begging you."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Fine we'll go after my shift. Speaking of which, I have to go. I lock up the store tonight so be there. Now take me to work."

"But honey, I haven't eaten-"  
Anna stepped up to him. "Morgan if you want me you're going to have to work for it. Now get ready."  
"Alrighty then, I was just going to suggest that I take you to work." He turned and headed towards the door but stopped and spun back around. "Will you fit on the handle bars? I mean I can do it, but it might be kind of hard to see."

The car keys hit him square in the chest eliciting an "Ouch."

Picking them up as she passed he commented. "You could've just said we're taking your car.

--o--

Sarah smoothly pulled the gear shift through the gears as she accelerated. Once she reached her chosen speed her hand slipped off the shifter to lay on top of Chuck's hand sitting just behind the it, but far enough away to not interfere with her shifting. She didn't need to look at him to know he was smiling. His touch had the same effect on her.

Traffic was reasonably light for the early afternoon and they were making good time. This was a good a time as any to call Casey about Chuck's revelation on who the mystery woman really was before they got to dinner.

Normally, for something like this, she would've excluded Chuck. Her agent training was still telling her to hold off until Chuck was out of the car, but her gut instinct was to keep him involved and aware. It wasn't personal, but it was just how an agent did things. No need to get the asset worked up, worried or more involved than necessary. Less to explain and no trust lost but none gained either.

From an agents standpoint, she knew she already had enough control and trust to exclude him. From a personal side, she simply did not feel it was wise to attempt to hide, conceal or otherwise minimize facts that so intimately connected both of them.

She grabbed her phone from the console and hit the speed dial. She waited till he answered before hitting speaker; placing the phone near the gear shift so they could both hear.

"What have you got Walker?"

"Chuck remembered who was climbing into his bed."

"How did you get him to remember that? You screw it out of him?" The sarcasm was thick and no doubt followed by a smirk.

Chuck wiggled his eyebrows when she glanced at him. She flexed an eyebrow skyward, smirked and nodded her head towards the phone, indicating he should respond.

"If you're interested Casey, I can supply you with all kinds of intimate details on exactly what she did before the memory _popped out_."

"Walker, what the hell! You've got me on speaker with Chuck there? Is there anyone else present I should know about?"

"No, and relax. We're in the car. I needed my hands free to drive and shift." She looked at Chuck as she said the last couple of words." He grinned right back at her as his eyes flicked down to the phone sitting inches away from the gear shift and their hands; hers again resting on top of his.

The line was quiet for a few more seconds before Casey spoke. The grumpiness was conveyed over the speaker very well. "Well? Gimme a name."

Sarah nodded again and Chuck replied. "Mary, the Doctor's assistant."

There was several seconds of silence before anything else was said. "Walker is he for real?"

"Yep."

"Your totally sure about this Bartowski?"

Chuck rolled his eyes. "100 Percent."

"Well we're fucked."

Chuck's eyes bugged out and Sarah did a double take alternating between looking at the phone and Chuck.

"What's going on Casey? I can identify her. I saw her leave Chucks room at the hospital. I even talked to her. There should be some video records of her at the hospital. At the very least on the surveillance footage you took."

Chuck spoke to both, looking at Sarah as talked, "I don't understand. What's the problem with it being Mary?"

"This is why we don't use the speaker phone Agent Walker. Chuck she is off the grid. She is so hot that if little Miss 'KnowItAll' driving the car so much as mentions that she can identify her by sight, there is a good chance she will be replaced as your handler. Permanently."

"What the hell is going on John?" Sarah demanded.

"I submitted all the surveillance footage from our time in the hospital and it went missing. I forwarded any reports and documents I had to HQ and they dropped into some kind of black hole. Walker my gut was telling me to not talk about anything related to the Doctor and its looking like it was right in spades."

"We still have to report what Chuck figured out, we'll just omit some details."

"That should be fine. Just make sure you keep your mouth shut Bartowski. Anything you get goes to Walker and me. That's it. Clear?"

Chuck swallowed. "Sure." His voice sounded anything but 'sure'.

"Walker, try to impress the importance of the situation on him."

"Don't worry about Chuck. In the mean time we are heading to Ellie's and Devon's for dinner. Are you at home."

"I will be out. I'll touch base tomorrow and we can compare notes."

--o--

Ellie had felt bad for the way Devon was being treated by their co-workers and for hiding her talks with John and Sarah. If she had been upfront about them, he wouldn't have worried.

She spent the last two hours trying to make up for those shortcomings. Apparently she had made headway on that front. After she worked him over in the shower and then in the bedroom he turned the tables and this last time she didn't even have to do anything. He did it all.

Between each enjoyable make up sex session she had checked on the food.

They knew Chuck and Sarah would be coming home soon but they were still shocked when they walked out of the hallway to find Chuck and Sarah in a rather busy embrace. Neither of them appeared to notice they had picked up spectators. Chuck was definitely working towards a goal, as he already reached second base.

Devon broke the silence and their concentration just as Chuck looked like he was about to head for third base. "At least this time there is no coffee to spill."

Ellie was surprised to catch them a second time, but shocked that Sarah was the one to break the kiss and step back first with the touch of blush in her cheeks. It had always been Chuck that was the one to jump at the first sign of any hanky-panky. There was definitely no doubt that they had been enjoying each other's company.

"Hey you too. I thought you would show up a little later, but we can relax a bit before dinner. Besides, everything is done, I'm just waiting on the roast."

Chuck looked like a Cheshire cat with his grin. He stepped beside Sarah and put his left arm around her shoulders. They shared a look before turning to face the hosts. "Hey sis. Sorry about that. We thought you had stepped out for a moment." He cleared his throat. Once he had Ellie's attention he gave Sarah's shoulder a squeeze.

Sarah jumped in by blurting it out. "Chuck and I had some big news that we wanted to tell you."

Ellie immediately held up her hands. "Well hold it for dinner tonight."

Sarah was a little take back and glanced at Chuck to make sure she hadn't done anything wrong.

Chuck gave his head a little shake signalling it was fine. "But El-"

"No buts Chuck. After dinner news only tonight."

"Fine." He grumbled. He shrugged to Sarah and gave her a peck on the cheek. "After dinner it is."

Ellie had re-entered the kitchen immediately after giving the 'hold the news' to Chuck and Sarah. "Sarah would you mind giving me a hand for a moment."

"Uh, sure." Walking into the kitchen she watched while Ellie pulled the roast out to check on it.

Closing the oven she leaned to Sarah. "I hope you don't mind about holding the news, but I love to see Chuck squirm. He just hates holding onto good news and it's so funny to watch him fidget."

Sarah laughed as the tension dissipated. She had been a little worried about how Ellie had delayed the news. "It's not a problem. Besides you have me a little curious about him now."

Ellie grinned. "You'll see what I mean at dinner. Now could you pass me those potatoes please? They're ready to go in with the roast."

--o--

_Footnote: I hope the chapter is ok. It was almost ready to go last week before I left for my trip. I only had one small scene to stick in. I get back and suddenly I realized that I needed about 3 more sections. The chapter ballooned to twice the size and required more editing to clean up and make it somewhat palatable. Now that it is more in line with what I expect, the size has increased to 50 percent larger than my targeted amount. lol_

_Oh well. I hope it was ok. I'm sure I could clean it up more, but I'm not feeling all that hot right now and just want to get it up to move on to the other chapters. I still have some major plot points to cover and that can be anywhere from 3-10 chapters __**after Part 5 is posted.**_

_Does anyone else find it annoying that percent signs and other characters can not be used? And has anyone ever tried to post using the new OpenOffice v3.0 open formats? I can't. It doesn't recognize them._


	20. Revelations, Part 5

_A/N: Warning. __**Some of the sexual encounters may not be appropriate for younger teens due to the presence of other factors in the scene. **__Language warnings as normal._

**Chapter 19**

**Revelations Part 5 **

Lester and Jeff were standing huddled in the far corner of the Buy More, well away from any staff or customers. Jeff's eyes bulged as he spoke rapidly. "Does that mean we're going to be fired?

With his palm facing down to the ground, Lester pumped his right hand up and down. "Shhhhhh." He spoke quickly in a hushed voice, "I don't know. Ever since Big Mike freaked, things haven't exactly been copacetic." Lester's eyes scanned the store looking for something or someone. He slapped the back of his hand against Jeff's arm. "There's Anna. Let's go talk to her. Maybe she knows."

Lester double timed it towards Anna at the Nerd Herd desk, not bothering to see if Jeff followed.

With her back to them, she did not see their approach. "Anna. Just the person we wanted to see."

Anna didn't bother to look up from the game magazine sitting in front of her. "Go away jerks."

"Is that anyway to talk to your fellow Nerd Herders?"

"When you actually do your own work for a change I'll give you the time of day. Until then, piss off." She loudly flipped the page of her magazine for emphasis.

Lester leaned on the counter and flicked his head in a poor attempt to schmooze her. "Don't be like that Anna. We're all on the same team. We just wanted to know if you can just ask your boyfriend how our illustrious leader is doing."

Anna sighed, knowing they were going to keep badgering her until she paid attention. She gave up reading and leaned back in her chair while giving herself a little more space from Lester.

Despite the sudden increase in distance between them, Lester took that as a sign to continue. "You know, does he need anything? Can we get him anything? Maybe Morgan could ask Chuck if he wants us to do anything for him."

Jeff nodded enthusiastically. "I can get him hookers."

Lester stopped and turned to Jeff but Anna was the first to respond. Her face wrinkling up in disgust. "He has a girlfriend you pig. And since when would you want to help Chuck?"

Hushed and in Jeff's direction he muttered, "Now is not the time." Lester rotated towards Anna and grinned. "Since we care about his well being as leader of our team."

Jeff chimed in as if Lester hadn't spoken. "Maybe he's getting tired of blond ones. I can get him other colors and not just on the hair."

Anna's look of disgust increased and her eyes squinted as she looked from Lester to Jeff and back again.

"Jeff!" Lester whispered loudly. "Shut up. You are not helping our situation."

Anna pre-empted their discussion, laying into them with a thick dose of sarcasm. "Let me guess. Your trying to buy off Chuck so that his sister and girlfriend are won't 'off' you too?"

Lester and Jeff both froze in the middle of their argument.

"Uhh..come again?" Lester asked. "They're trying to 'off' who exactly?"

Anna looked at the two and shook her head. "Never mind. It's stupid."

Jeff elbowed Lester. "Tell her what Sarah was going to do."

"We talked about this. No. It was nothing. I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding." Lester turned slightly to face Jeff while simultaneously widening his eyes in an attempt to communicate his displeasure on the topic.

Anna was far too alert to miss the strange look and perked up immediately. "If you want my help, then you tell me what happened with Sarah." She demanded.

Lester shot a dirty look towards Jeff and quickly scanned the immediate area before leaning across the counter towards Anna. "It's nothing really. When Chuck broke up with Sarah to date the sandwich maker, I, uhhh, went over to console her...on ...their break up. When I started talking to her at the Weinerlicious, some stuff sort of happened. That's it. That's all."

Intrigued Anna leaned forward to rest her elbows on the counter, flipping her hands palm up towards Lester. "And?"

Lester began to fidget. "And she became a little aggressive."

Anna looked unimpressed. "I get a little aggressive when either one of you are near me too. Just be thankful Big Mike doesn't allow employees to carry Mace." Lester and Jeff both took a step backwards.

"Yah, but she wanted sex!" Jeff blurted; his eyes lighting up. "Right on the counter!"

"Ok. That's it. The next time you talk it will be your last Jeff." Lester snapped.

Jeff called him on his bluff. "You haven't got it in you."

Pulling his ace, Lester growled back, "Don't push me or I cut you off from Big Mike's secret stash."

Jeff's mouth dropped. "You wouldn't!"

Recognizing he had won, Lester dropped a hand on Jeff's shoulder. "Jeffery, Jeffery. You have a lot to learn from the master."

Anna looked back and forth between the two. "Can you idiots knock it off for one second." With their attention back on her, she continued. "Are you serious?"

Jeff and Lester looked at each other confused.

Anna let out burst air in frustration. "About the counter-sex stuff."

Finally back on the same topic, both men nodded rapidly in response to her question.

"Interesting." She appeared to be deep in thought for a few seconds when her eyes suddenly narrowed again. "Wait a minute. You two didn't come over to talk about Sarah, so what are here for?" Her voice suddenly changed, becoming very sarcastic, "Oh wait. Let me guess. You stopped by to sweet talk me with an offer to work for Jeff?"

Lester gave his head a small shake. "What? No. We need to know if Chuck is going to sue us and then shut down the Buy More."

Anna's mouth dropped open in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"We overheard Big Mike this morning. He was on speaker phone with corporate. They said they still haven't heard from Chucks lawyers and that usually means they are preparing supporting information and going to go for the kill."

"The kill?" Anna asked.

"Yah, that's when you take a knife an..." Jeff tilted his head back and pulled a finger across his neck, left to right.

"Jeff!" Lester turned back to Anna. "Corporate thinks that when Chuck and the pharmaceutical company sue, it will force the closure of this division of Buy More. Normally they would transfer the employees but..." He trailed off at Anna's forceful stare.

"Ok they would transfer the _good_ employees to another store, but since some of the staff were involved in the screw up, they could can everyone and black ball them from other stores. Once word gets out, we won't be able to work anywhere! We'll be living in cardboard boxes. No jobs. No money. No food."

"Speak for yourself. I'll just fall back on my mom."

"How is it you were worried about your job not five minutes ago and didn't you tell me your mom was in prison?"

"Yah but that's before I remembered that I had I changed mom's house into a brothel while she's in the Big House. It would be tough but I could get by. Where did you think I was going to get the hookers from?"

Lester brought a finger to his lips as if contemplating it.

Anna grabbed Lester's tie, giving it a pull and choking him slightly. "Do you want my help or not?"

--o--

The roast was delicious with everyone commenting on it as they ate and true to Ellie's word, Chuck had begun to fidget half way through the meal. By the time they got to the desert, he had already asked at least half a dozen times to tell the news. At the end of desert he had resorted to a begging style, very reminiscent of Morgan's; down on his knees, puppy dog eyes and the repeated whimpering of the word please over and over. Ellie finally relented and let Sarah spill their news.

To say that Ellie was overjoyed at hearing about Chuck and Sarah moving in together was an understatement. Everyone was sure that her squeals of joy could be heard through the whole complex. No one was quite sure if she was more happy Chuck's move or her own wedding, although Sarah was pretty sure that Casey wouldn't be hearing too well for the next couple of days.

After everyone calmed down, they took a break to clear the dishes. With Ellie and Devon in the kitchen at the sink, Sarah quietly spilled the beans to Chuck that Ellie had stalled the news on purpose to get a rise out of him.

Chuck took the news very well, as he simply smiled and leaned towards her speaking in a hushed voice. "I know. She does it whenever Morgan isn't here. As much as she says she doesn't like him, I think she misses his strange antics. I play along. I know it makes her happy." He kissed her cheek and stacked the dishes onto the counter, using his good hand.

Such a feeling of love for him came over her that she thought she was going to melt. She could only stand and stare at his back in astonishment, wondering if he had a halo in his back pocket. On impulse she patted both of them down for good measure, just to check.

Chuck felt Sarah frisking his behind and when he turned, she just looked back at him with the oddest smile and blinked. He tilted his head in confusion and went back to the table, unsure of what just happened. She followed one step behind returning to her seat next to him. He attempted to decipher her expression a second time, but gave up after she flexed her eyebrows up at his intense stare. Relenting, he turned to watch Ellie and Devon finish up in the kitchen; waiting for them to return to the table to continue chatting.

Just because his gaze shifted, didn't mean his hand did. It was firmly ensconced in the opening of her skirt, his fingers lightly teasing her exposed leg. She had appeared to like it as she moved her chair a touch closer in response.

Sarah waited till their hosts were back at the table before she broached a part of the move that she hadn't cleared with Chuck yet. It couldn't be helped; Chuck had been busy on _other things_ and had left her no time to fill him in on all of the arrangements.

"Anyway, Chuck is staying at my hotel room for a few days right now but I was hoping I could move in with Chuck here for the next a little while. We could save a little more and it's much more convenient to hunt for a place from here."

Chuck was a little surprised at this new development, but he knew better than to say anything to contradict her.

Ellie's reaction was no less lively than her previous one, obviously overjoyed at the prospect of having a sister staying at the apartment, even if for a short time. "Sarah, you would be most welcome. We can make room." Long hugs had been given and received by everyone at the table.

Two bottles of wine later and Ellie dropped a mini bomb of her own.

"So I saw Morgan earlier today. I kind of almost ran him down." She giggled.

Sarah and Chuck looked at each other. "Oh my god Ellie. Is he ok?"

Ellie waved a hand. "Oh he was fine. Seems he wasn't exactly scared of me or the car. He was more scared of Sarah."

Time seemed to move in slow motion. Devon turned to Ellie, "Babe are you sure you heard him right?"

"Mmmhmm" she replied as she gulped down the remainder of her glass and began pouring another.

Chuck felt Sarah's hand grip his leg tightly under the table. He knew he should say something but he had no idea what.

Sarah did say something. She had to keep the situation controlled. "What exactly did Morgan say Ellie?"

"He was mumbling about how it's not safe to disturb you and Chuck during sex. Something about how you like it rough and throw knives if disturbed."

Devon choked a little on his drink as Ellie said the bit about liking it rough and the knives. "Dude, put a tie on the door."

Chuck looked like he was going to faint.

Sarah was quiet for a moment before picking up the wine glass. "He'll think twice before climbing in the Morgan Door."

"Maybe it's time we installed a doorbell outside Chuck's window." Ellie grinned. "And those little love bruises your both sporting?" Like clockwork the blush hit Chuck and Sarah at the same time.

Devon chuckled. "You didn't actually think those collared shirts were going to fool a couple of doctors did you?"

Chuck cleared his throat. "Apparently not. Right Sarah?"

Sarah couldn't answer. She was busy gulping her glass. "Is there anymore?" She asked before her glass was back on the table.

Ellie kept the questions coming, the alcohol loosening her tongue. "So the rough stuff...", Pointedly looking from the necks to Chucks bandaged hand, which she had not mentioned during the entire night until now.

Chuck had finished pouring her another glass, which she downed in record time before answering. "It has been a while. What with Chuck in the hospital and the silly rib problems." She flicked meaning laden look to Ellie eliciting a very small smirk from her.

Devon took over where Ellie left off. "So the knife..."

Sarah finished his sentence for him "Was a good way to get rid of Morgan."

Ellie filled Sarah's glass and leaned forward in an exceptionally loud conspiratorial whisper, partial due to the fact she was drunk. "Can you teach me?"

Sarah, her glass already filled and on its way back to her lips paused in its arc, but before she could answer Chuck spoke up.

"There is no way you're going to be throwing knives Ellie. That's the last thing I need. My sister accidently killing my best friend because he surprised her while she was eating her corn flakes."

Ellie twirled the glass watching the wine swirl inside it and gave a disappointing sigh. "I suppose your right." She looked back towards the wine bottles. "Devon, were running low. Be a dear and grab more please."

"Coming right up babe." He smiled and jumped up to grab the bottles.

"I'm going to use the little girl's room. Be right back and no sex on the table you two." She giggled as she left towards the bathroom.

Chuck expelled his breath in a huge gust before turning to face Sarah. "How could you say that!"

She turned her head to face him, taking a big swallow of the wine as she watched him.

He waited till she put the glass down. "Did I lie?" she whispered quietly.

"Well, no."

"Then what's the problem?"

"You...I..." He stopped and thought about it for a moment. He glanced over at Devon, his face stuck in the cabinet digging to find the 'right' wine. Chuck leaned forward till he was directly in front of her face. "Watching you tell the truth makes me hot. You sure we can't get in some table time?" He waggled his eyebrows up and down as he finished the sentence.

She started to laugh, caught off guard by his goofy antics. She knew it was his way of apologizing and it worked. "Maybe later." She said giving him a peck on the cheek after her laughter slowed enough to allow her to speak.

"Maybe what later?" Devon asked as he reached between them to put the bottles on the table.

Sarah looked directly at Devon. "Would you like to see my knives?"

Devon froze. Then burst into a large grin and wagged his finger at Sarah. "Chuck you've got a wild one there. That's awesome. She'll get your blood pumping." He leaned over and slapped Chuck's shoulder.

Chuck winced at the blow and squinted, not quite sure how to take that statement.

"Who's blood pumping?" Ellie asked as she re-entered the room and sat back down.

"Nobody, sis." Chuck answered giving Devon a glare.

Devon winked at them, smiling and gave them two thumbs up as he mouthed the words, "Your secret is safe with me."

"Okay." She said to no one in particular, before spotting the wine bottles at the table. "Ohh, more wine. Sarah, you need a top off I think." Ellie filled Sarah's glass to the brim before 'topping' up her own the same way.

Chuck gave Devon a look, as the last drops of yet the another bottle filled the ladies glasses. Devon shrugged. "We're off tomorrow."

Thankfully topics had stayed light, but everyone, specifically the women seemed to be a little bit... Chuck looked at Sarah again to be sure. Yah a little bit drunk.

--o--

Director Graham appeared on the screen first, standing beside an empty chair. "Agent Casey. You have something to report.

Before Casey responded, General Beckham entered the video area and sat down, leaning forward to listen. "Agent Walker and Bartowski were able to identify who was in bed with him."

General Beckman scanned the areas on either side of Casey. "Where are they now and why are they not reporting with you?"

"They are in the midst of maintaining their cover with his sister and her fiancé."

"I see. How much information were they able to determine?" said Director Graham, placing one hand on the desk as he leaned forward.

"Only the name. Mary. She was the Doctor's assistant. You already have all the information on her in the reports we supplied. There is no further information."

Casey noted the two superior offices exchanged glances and their shoulders slumped. General Beckham leaned back in her chair and the Director stood back up. Neither one looked happy with the news.

As per his discussions with Chuck and Walker, Casey did not volunteer to proceed with the information. Instead he flipped it back to them. "What are your instructions."

Another shared glance and the General replied. "We will handle it from here. You will continue to monitor the Intersect and inform us of anything out of the ordinary. You will pass any more information you find as soon as you get it."

"Yes ma'am."

"Agent Casey."

"Sir?"

"It would be in your best interest if you do not attempt to pursue any leads on your own or with the team. The Intersect is too valuable for that. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Your dismissed."

--o--

The food was long gone and the plates cleared. Normally they would have moved to the couches for some light board gaming but tonight they stayed at the table to chat over wine. More empty had begun to accumulate and it looked like more would soon follow.

Ellie took the time to watch Chuck watch Sarah. "Chuck, it's time for another hair cut. It's getting way too long." Her speech was definitely starting to slur.

Sarah began staring at Chuck's head, swaying slightly in her chair. "Speaking of hair, I'm not sure what Chuck uses to wash his hair with but Ellie, I was wondering..."

Ellie, peered over the top of her wine glass as she took a drink.

"Can Chuck use your shampoo?" she said with a barely suppressed grin.

Flashes of a morning not too far back and a certain Katie Perry song flashed through Ellie's thoughts, as her mouth promptly spit its contents of red wine across the table and onto Chuck. The reaction starting a fit of giggles from Ellie and Sarah that continued to escalate until both were laughing so hard they had trouble breathing.

The men looked at them as if they had lost their minds.

"This is not awesome." Devon commented.

Chuck looked down at the wine stained shirt and grimaced. "For once Devon, I have to agree with you." Looking at the women who were completely oblivious to the men, Chuck said, "Keep an eye on them. I'm going to change my shirt." As annoyed as he was at Ellie for spitting wine on him he couldn't stop his Bartowski smile from appearing at the bonding between the two laughing women.

While Chuck had gone to dump his shirt in the sink, the woman had taken the time to admire the table from underneath it. Mainly due to the inability for either one to stay seated while laughing.

Devon let them be, not wanting to get in the way of their fun.

"Oh. They are soft. You wax?"

"Only some. I use a razor too. You?"

"Wax. Smooth as butter. Feel."

Devon leaned back in his chair to watch the ladies under the table. "Um...Chuck?" He called. "Chuck?" He repeated.

A faint "What" echoed down the hall.

"I think the ladies have had a little too much to drink."

"Why do you say that?" Came his faint reply.

The women were completely oblivious to the conversation being held above the table as they continued chatting. "Ohh, no wonder I liked the feel of them. I wish Chuck's was that soft.

Devon watched wide eyed as Sarah ran a hand up Ellie's leg. "Oh I don't know. Maybe because it's kind of like watching soft porn under the table. It's a good thing Morgan isn't here. He'd make a fortune."

Chuck was out of the bathroom and running for the table before Devon finished the talking.

"Ok ladies, I think it's time for beddy -bye. Devon said as he pulled the chair back to reach for Ellie.

"Awwe, but we're not done yet hon." Her head rolling towards him; her hair falling over her face. "Oppsy." She giggled.

Devon placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Oh I think you are."

Devon was already guiding Ellie down the hall as he shouted a "Night Chuck" over his back.

Meanwhile Chuck was on the other side of the table coaxing Sarah out from the table. "Come on out from under there Sarah. We'll just get you off that hard floor and into a nice warm bed." He tried grabbing her arm but she pulled away. With Ellie gone she had laid down, her head cradled in her arm.

"I'm really warm already. Can't you just come down here? It's really comfortable." He was very aware of how dreamy and distant her voice had become.

If you come out here, you can show Ellie your knives. You'd like that wouldn't you?"

Her head had lifted up a bit at the mention of knives but she seemed to think better of it. "No. Tired now." She said and laid her head back down on her arm.

Chuck bit his lip. He had one thing to try. He just hoped it would turn out ok. "Ok. I'll make you a deal. I'll let you stay here on the floor. Ok."

"Sounds good" she mumbled.

"Mary said she will tuck me in. You don't mind do you?" She didn't say a word.

He grimaced. His little pass out test worked. He would have known if she was still awake at the mention of Mary.

He took a look at the where she was laying and the furniture around her. With no movement, it meant he would have to do it the hard way. He pulled the chairs away from their side of the table and went to turn down the bed. By his figuring, if he could lean in and scoop her up he could then carry her directly to the bed with a minimum of fuss.

No sooner had he walked in the door to his bedroom when he was tackled from behind, forcing him forward to land face down on the bed. He squirmed enough to spin on the bed to face his attacker. It didn't take much effort to find Sarah on all fours straddling his body as she scanned the room.

"Where is the bitch!" She looked down at Chuck, her face full of fury. "Where is she!" she growled. The aggression appeared to be working wonderings at keeping her alert and awake, even with the slightly glazed eyes.

Chuck stared in shock.

"Chuck!" She grabbed his shoulders tightly, causing him to grimace in pain.

Staying as calm as he could, he replied, "There's no one in here but you and me Sarah."_ Apparently drunk agents don't quite respond as fast as you would think. Note to self. Don't piss Sarah off when drunk; not even to tease. _

She looked at him for a moment before standing back up, staggering as she did, but Chuck grabbed her to steady her.

"I thought I heard you say something about...about Mary and ...you." She mumbled almost tearing.

He felt a small wave of guilt flow through him before he pushed it back down and promptly lied. He justified the lie with the fact that if he has to lie to Ellie and others about his life then he can tell a little white lie to Sarah. "No. I never said anything like that. You must have been dreaming. Why don't you let me help you get undressed and into bed." He made a promise to himself to not use that particular method of coercion again. In retrospect, it was stupid, but then he wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders either, having sampled more than a bit of the alcohol at the table.

Sarah, in the mean time, had become confused and relatively docile if not more awake than she had been under the table. "I really thought..." Her words drifted off and she became quiet as Chuck undressed her for bed. As he unzipped and pulled her skirt down, his head at her waist he couldn't help but notice she was _not_ wearing panties he had watched her put on earlier but she still had a sheath of knives strapped to the inside of her thigh. Normally the knives would be an issue, but at this exact moment he didn't care. He _did _care that she was currently a little too drunk for some of the things he had in mind as he stared at the intersection of her legs.

He was interrupted as she started to sway and staggered, forcing him out of his crouching position to stand and wrap his arm around her, gently steering her to the bed. Setting her down on the edge of the bed he pulled the knives and slipped them under the bed. Next he took his time to figure out how the sheath was fastened on before he would attempt to remove it.

Sarah was notoriously uncooperative about the entire situation. While she was sitting, it was apparent to anyone that would look, she was drunk. Her head flopped from side to side, more than moved. She alternated between almost passing out to staring at Chuck's head. She didn't offer any help with the knife sheath.

When he moved his hand to take it off, she clamped her thighs together, pinning his left hand while wrapping him in a bear hug and pulling him backwards on to the bed. Drunk she may be, she still knew he was at a disadvantage with only his bandaged hand free.

With a hand trapped in her vice-like legs, she forced her tongue past his teeth in a surprise attack on his mouth.

Chuck's squawked as he was assaulted. It took several tries before he was able to turn his head enough to speak. She was amazingly strong or else the liquor he had made him even weaker. "Sarah. Sarah stop. You're drunk."

She moved to down to the neck, alternated between kissing and nibbling. "So?" She slurred between nibbles.

"So? So I don't want to take advantage of you."

Her kisses moved from the right side of his neck, up his throat, around his jaw and down the left side. Words slipping out between kisses. "Chuck. This. Isn't. A. Date. Just. Let. Go."

She spread her legs enough to release his hand while allowing her own access to the sheath, and in less time than he could take a breath, it fell away from her leg. She unceremoniously dropped the sheath on the floor before pulling Chuck back down on top of her. She definitely wasn't as aggressive as earlier in the day, but she was still very demanding. He didn't care one bit.

Afterwards, he watched her drift off to sleep, her face holding a very small smile. Not surprisingly, the sex had lasted much longer than their earlier one session. Chuck chocked it up to the alcohol. He thought for sure she was going to pass out during, but she kept herself going right up until they both got off. She had passed out almost immediately afterwards. He figured that was a good thing.

He felt completely dehydrated and exhausted yet he forced himself out of bed. First to make a trip to the kitchen to guzzle water, then he started hunting for supplies. He made sure to leave a small light on near his desk and triple checked the window. He also put a glass of water and several Tylenol on the dresser, as well as emergency garbage, with bag, on her side of the bed.

Just in case.

He cast one last tired glance around the room. Satisfied that everything was in place he climbed in bed and snuggled close to her. She unconsciously responded by shifting to her side and into the spoon position, the intimate contact triggering a not entirely unexpected reaction. He placed his arm around her and ignored his lower anatomy before drifting off. His last waking thoughts revolved around the fact that couldn't remember a more interesting night at the Bartowski household in his adult history.

Hell he couldn't remember a more interesting couple of days. _Ever_.

--o--

_A/N: Sorry for any rough edges. I needed to get this posted and I found a bit of time to do it at work. I highly doubt I will be finishing my story before the new season. Let me know if you find any problems or areas that need correction._


	21. When Things Go Mostly Right

_A/N: Some foul language and sexual situations. Nothing really implicit. Tshadow...hope your happy. I posted a chapter. lol. I apologize for making you wait. If my apology is not enough, I can relay any complaints to a certain maid of honor..... and she doesn't read this drivel so I'm safe. :)  
_

**Chapter 20**

**When Things Go Mostly Right**

It was a beautiful sunrise. The water glowed with the light of the rising sun; a breeze flowed across the water, and up onto the patio. Despite the early morning hour, the weather was warm and relaxing. Mary sat at a circular table near the farthest most edge of patio looking out over the water. While the table was small, it was easily large enough for a second person in a cozy fashion, yet the other chair sat vacant. Weeks before she would have never been without some kind of company but recent events left her changed.

Her gaze broke from the hypnotic lights dancing on the water surface and flittered over to the empty chair at her table. Mary reminisced over the last time she left Chuck's bedroom. It had only been a couple of days and already she found herself despondent. She knew the feeling had arisen from the absence of his touch. Her staff were already aware of Mary's oddly quiet behavior and they made her as comfortable as possible; maintaining a discreet distance and dampening their usual extracurricular antics. All the previously encouraged activities had been quietly moved to more private locations, sensing Mary's depressive mood was somehow tied to her recent personal mission.

Mary looked down at her bowl of fruit, glass of juice and again at the empty chair. The patio doors were closed and the staff never heard the quiet sobs from the beautiful lady sitting all alone watching the sun rise.

---o---

Casey watched from hiding as his neighbours exited his apartment, locking the door behind them. Waiting till they were back in their own suite he moved towards his door. Now that Ellie and Devon were gone, he was free to pull his guns back out of hiding. A quick glance around the room and a silent smirk played on his lips. Ellie and Devon were meticulous in their cleanup, yet not once did they stumble across any of the weapons hidden around the apartment.

Everything was exactly where he had left it. Anyone suspecting him of housing stockpiles of lethal weaponry would have to know exactly where to look to find anything more than just run of the mill store brand electronics. If it wasn't hidden extremely well, he had outright moved to a secure location in anticipation of the expected visit of his neighbors and the upcoming hit on Chuck.

It actually worked in his favor when he volunteered the apartment key to Ellie to help keep an eye on Chuck and Sarah. He was slightly surprised that she had already used the key, but in a typical fashion she left a polite note. He wasn't so happy about the recent conversations Ellie had with Devon when he reviewed the surveillance. He had thought he had detected a slight hint of _something _from her. His lips tightened. _Mission must be getting to me. Starting to image things._

Opening a kitchen cupboard, he reached far inside to pull out a glock and silencer, his hands unconsciously screwing them together while his eyes scanned the room. He didn't think he would need it, but the way things were going lately, Beckman may have sent a second hitter.

He didn't even want to consider the other alternative more sinister alternative. His hands froze for a moment, while his mind ran down a different path. In that one, Walker was more devious than he gave her credit for and playing both of them. That scenario would be nigh unrecoverable and be worse than ten extra hitters. He preferred to leave that thought buried. It would be a no win scenario for the kid anyway. Dead or betrayed by the woman he loved. His gut said the kid would prefer dead. His head shook side to side ever so slightly as if to shake out the bad thoughts.

His eyelids tightened and he closed the hidden compartment before moving towards the window to peek out the blinds. The courtyard was quiet and the sun was high in the sky. Satisfied at the lack of movement outside he made his way to the extra monitors he had recently installed. They displayed the newly added live feeds, covering every angle inside and outside of the entire complex, including his own apartment. You could never be too careful in this business. Surprises could come from anywhere and he didn't have the luxury of someone to watch his back. It wasn't the first time he was on his own and likely not the last. He was the last line of defense and if any unwanted visitors came knocking he was ready to answer.

He settled into his recliner to wait. If Chuck had lived by himself like the good little nerd that he could be, the opportune time for the hit would have been sometime during the night. But Chuck didn't live by himself and for that reason alone it the best time would be in the morning sometime after Ellie and Devon had left for work. Possible explanations being as simple as a robbery gone wrong, after seeing the main occupants leave. It would mean minimal causalities with only the loss of one insignificant technician that never did anything with his life.

Casey grimaced and absently pulled a can of already open tuna to his lap, never taking his eyes off of the monitors. It was going to be a long day and an even longer night.

---o---

Chuck and Sarah awoke to a quiet Friday morning**. **By unspoken mutual consent, neither did much more than use the washroom, take Tylenol, drink water, brush teeth and head straight back to bed. Chuck stirred slightly when Ellie peeked her head in a couple of hours later.

"Hey you two sleepy heads. We're grabbing a quick bite and heading out to go shopping. You two interested?"

Chuck looked back at his sister and then over at his sleeping girlfriend, who was now drooling slightly on the pillow.

He turned back to Ellie with a large grin. "I think we'll pass sis'."

Ellie chuckled, her eyes twinkled with a combination of amusement and happiness for Chuck and his sleeping girlfriend. "Have a good day you too." She closed the door quietly behind her.

Chuck turned to watch Sarah sleep. He couldn't resist brushing the hair away from her face while he waited for her to wake up.

---

Sarah's eyelids fluttered open, her sight instantly greeted by a wide grin from the man laying inches from her face. A sudden forward lunge put Sarah's mouth over his, her tongue darting across his lips. Before he could respond she pulled back to her pillow with smile that widened quickly into a grin. His eyes still large from her sudden kiss attack, she darts in again, but slips by his mouth to stop at his ear whispering in a low husky voice, "You know Chuck, there is one good thing that has come out of this."

His head pushed further back into the pillow as he arched away from her to ask, "What might that be?" His eyebrows arched high, with his eyes becoming overly large.

Wiggling closer until she could feel the heat radiate from his skin to hers, she lifted her head towards his ear again in a much slower deliberate motion to whisper more, "Well, I was ordered to spend every second with you. As the most recent problem occurred during the night, I believe the intent is to stop further intrusions from unauthorized personnel."

Chuck coughed slightly as his eyes darted to the strong rays of sunshine leaking through the blinds.

Catching his eye movement she quickly added, "Regardless of the time of day."

His grin spread from ear to ear and his brown eyes bored into her cool blue ones. "So, do you qualify as authorized personnel?"

"Most definitely", she purred.

His replying grin grew even larger and became uncharacteristically lecherous. "Good, because I'm thinking I would like to intrude several times."

Sarah declined to respond verbally, instead going a more physical direction as her teeth and tongue began speaking volumes in his ear. Apparently he is able to understand the language, as he moves his hands over her body, pulling her closer to him and the lump resting under his PJ's.

---o---

Casey watched the scene with a firm grimace stuck on his face. Chuck's bedroom camera supplied a much better view of the room than he liked, affording him with more information than he ever wanted to know about either of them. As if the image wasn't enough, he was assaulted by the noises Walker was making as Chuck continued his _activities._ Needless to say, he got an eyeful of Chuck and Sarah and he would have liked to have turned it off, but he couldn't take the chance. Not today. Silently relieved when they finally finished, he packed up his gear and began prepping to head over. The sooner he brought them up to speed on the latest development, the better.

He moved towards the door and noticed he could still smell Ellie's perfume as it lingered from the day before. He wondered what it would be like to smell it every day; in and out of bed.

He gave his head a shake. _I wonder if this is how it started with Walker._ He grimaced and made his way out the door and towards Chuck's bedroom window.

---o---

A speedy shower and Chuck headed for the kitchen to grab breakfast. It wasn't until Chuck finished pouring the milk and turned with a bowl in his hands that he saw John. Chuck's eyebrows rising in surprise, John dipped his head once and his eyes darted to the side in the direction of the hall where Walker could be heard in the bathroom.

Chuck's eyes squinted slightly as he took in Casey's slightly sad features and the hand behind his back. Chuck's eyes popped wide his mouth opening to speak.

True to her stealthy training Sarah came striding into the kitchen stopping directly in front of Chuck, her face lit with a glowing smile and catching Chuck off guard; mistaking his shock at seeing Casey for surprise at her appearance.

"Chuck is that for me?" She said, playfully pulling the utensil out of his hand and helping herself to a spoonful of cereal. Chuck's gaze stayed focused on Sarah, his peripheral vision watching the motionless Casey looking on.

"You know what? I think this bowl is getting in my way." Smirking he set the bowl on the counter and removed the spoon from her hand, dropping it back into the bowl before slipping his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides while briefly holding up his index finger behind Sarah indicating Casey should wait.

Tilting her head to the left, an eyebrow rising skyward, "And what exactly do you think you are doing mister?" She asked as he gently pulled her gun from the waistband at the back of her skirt.

"I'm just getting you ready. He said with a smile. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt." A tiny smile appeared on Casey's lips.

Clearly misinterpreting him Sarah laughed. "What are you saying Chuck?" Her voice lowering to a more intimate level. "Are you ready for more already?" With her arms still pinned she stood on her tip toes and nibbled on his neck.

Biting his lips, his face turning red he gave a final yank and pulled the gun free of her skirt.

The words stumbled out of his mouth as he fought to stay focused. "Act..act...actually, I was thinking about a BBQ this Sunday. Would you be interested?"

Sarah stopped her nibbling on his neck, "What's that Chuck?"

Chuck was focused on her face but could see Casey's head turn as if he misheard. Chuck repeated it for good measure, this time more confidently. "I _said,_ I was thinking about a BBQ this Sunday. Would you be interested?"

Sarah was clearly confused. "Chuck what are you talking about? We don't even have a BBQ yet."

Without letting up on his embrace he flicked his wrist and with an almost amazing display of accuracy, the gun landed on the couch near Casey.

Hearing it land she started to turn and he pulled her close, kissing her deeply. She gave up trying to look behind her and settled into the kiss. "Mmmm. Does that mean you're ready for the bedroom now?"

Chuck pulled her tighter, locking his hands behind her back. Actually I was kind of thinking we should sit down for coffee with Casey first.

"Buster you better not be pulling that again! Are you telling me your turning down sex, for a coffee with Casey this time?" She asked incredulously.

Not waiting for Chuck to reply, Casey spoke. "Coffee sounds just fine Chuck".

Sarah tried to spin out of Chucks arms but he was prepared and held her tightly. She tried to step back from him again he held her firmly against him. Her smile fell away and her brows furrowed as she became concerned. "Chuck let me go."

Holding her gaze with his own, "Not yet."

Her eyes widened her voice more frantic. "Chuck. Let me go."

"Relax Walker."

Sarah froze. Her mind filling in the blanks. Fear in her eyes she turned her head to look over her shoulder. Casey had let his hidden hand come forward to hang at his side. The silencer was still on the end of his gun while her gun was sitting on the couch next to him where Chuck threw it. Her mind racing she looked for a way to avoid the inevitable.

"Walker. I said relax. I'm not here to kill Chuck."

"Like I believe that Casey." She snapped. "Chuck, why the hell won't you let me go?"

"I don't want you to get yourself hurt."

"He's right Walker. Besides he gave the stand down code. Not that you really needed it. I had already come up with the beginnings of a plan to get you two out of here. This is one time I'm glad I didn't have to follow through."

Casey walked from the living room and into the kitchen. "It's ok Chuck; you can let her go." He holstered his own gun and held Sarah's up for her to take.

She grabbed it but didn't put it away. She wasn't looking very happy. Her lips were tightly pursed and her eyes flared. "Would someone care to explain what the hell just happened?"

"Chuck can I have some Kahlua in that coffee?"

"Sure." Chuck reached into the cabinet to pull a coffee cup down for Casey before grabbing Kahlua from the liquor cabinet.

While Chuck was getting the coffee, Casey continued. "I can't really tell you much. The General phoned and told me carry out the order to terminate Chuck. I was to wait till there was an opportune time. That's why I made sure you stayed with Chuck at your place while I came up with a way out. Of course in traditional Bartowski fashion things got kind of botched and with it was only with a little bit of lucky planning on my part that things worked out as well as they did."

"Once I figured out what I was going to do, I came over to do it. Or in this case, not do it. It didn't matter anyway because Chuck gave the stand down code phrase."

Surprised at Casey's admission and Chuck's sudden inside help she turned to Chuck. "Chuck?" She said as she looked at him for confirmation.

Chuck shrugged as he poured and began explaining. "Director Graham phoned me." He handed Casey the coffee. "Careful it's hot." Turning to face both of them again he continued. "Anyway he told me that Casey had orders to kill me and that I should use the code phrase when I saw him next."

"Why the hell didn't the Director contact me?" She snapped aloud.

Chuck looked down and away for a fraction of a second before turning to stare into her eyes. "He said you were compromised and if you were in the room, it would be better if I somehow distracted and disarmed you before you got yourself hurt."

Both agents stared at Chuck. Casey had stopped his cup half way up to his mouth, while Sarah responded. "He knows I'm compromised?"

"Apparently."

Casey lowered his cup. "Did he give any indication as to how he knew?"

"Ahh, apparently the General had _The_ Doctor do a very extensive assessment on our relationship while we were incarcerated. The Doctor had been monitoring our actions quite closely and recorded all of it."

Chuck noticed the agents share a look. He had a pretty good idea it was somehow tied to the video Mary had sent to his phone of Sarah's mental episode at the facility when she butchered the guard.

"Anyway, Mary edited the file and removed the majority of the information that indicated either of you were compromised. Mary recently sent the bulk of the original file to Director Graham instead.

Sarah's mouth tightened. "Are you talking about the same Mary that was found fucking you recently?" While her words were harsh, her voice was cold and emotionless. It didn't do much to remove the sting from the recent events. Chuck nodded, swallowing hard as a feeling of guilt swept over him.

Casey could be heard whispering. "Damn."

Her eyes glazed and she grabbed Chuck's hand. Her voice was much quieter when she spoke again. "Did he say where I would be reassigned or when?"

Casey took larger gulps from his cup. Regardless of his tough exterior he was never as good at goodbyes as people thought.

Chucks eyes were strangely large when he answered. "He sort of worded it differently."

Sarah's head tilted. "What? What do you mean? Chuck, what did he tell you?" She tossed a glance at Casey to see if he knew. Casey shrugged and shook his head.

Chuck stumbled with his words, seemingly unsure of how she would take them. "Something along the lines that agents in love are useless for most missions and that he might as well use you to your best abilities on this one."

Casey coughed on his coffee and Sarah's mouth dropped open. Chuck continued. "He said that at least he knew where your loyalties lay and surveillance wouldn't be much of a problem anymore."

Sarah had the widest eyes he had ever seen. Her reply was hesitant at best as she swallowed several times before speaking. "Was there anything else?"

Looking down he suddenly became evasive. "Uhh...He asked some other....stuff. I told him we just moved in."

Casey slapped him on the back with a laugh. "Buck up Chuck. He just signed off on your relationship with Walker. It's not like you have to marry her."

Strangely Chuck didn't react to the slap on the back, instead he kept his gaze on the floor and the room suddenly became very quiet.

Sarah placed a hand on his arm. "Chuck. What are you not saying?"

Looking up into her blue eyes, "He kind of mentioned that _it _would likely be required for any long term mission."

The spray on his face and shoulder was instant upon his finishing of the sentence. He turned his head to the now coughing Casey. "Thanks. I always wanted to try showering in coffee and Kahlua," he said sarcastically.

Sarah's voice was several octaves higher than normal. "_He said I have to __**marry you**_?"

Casey reigned in the coughing fit enough to spit out a reply. "I think Chuck already answered that question Walker."

A glance at Casey was all it took for him to drop his smirk. Turning back to face Chuck she spoke very clearly, "Well what if I don't want to marry you?"

Chuck's mouth fell open, the rest of his expression vacant. "You don't?"

Annoyance flickered through her features before she realized what Chuck was thinking. Ignoring his question she reworded hers. "I mean what would happen? Did the director cover any of that?"

Chuck swallowed and tried to regain his composure, reiterating what he was told in an almost trance-like fashion. "There was no way he was going to reassign his top agent off the most expensive project in the history of US intelligence. There was also no way said project was going anywhere or doing anything without said agent. Specifically when attachments of this kind are generally a hindrance for the agent in any other type of capacity."

Chuck broke off his monologue to look at Sarah before continuing. "He really sort of emphasized the word anything. Then he said if we ever did pick a date to let him know."

Her lips curled into her mouth. Her already glazed eyes began to leak.

Chuck stepped towards her, concern etched on his face. "Hey are you-"

She jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist, burying her face into the crook of his neck. He could feel her warm tears work their way down his neck.

Trying to speak past the lump in his throat he timidly asked, "Sarah, are you...are you ok with this?"

A loud sniff and she pulled her head back to look him in the eyes. "Yes. More than you could possible know." She leaned forward to kiss him.

A minute or so into the kiss, which had not so subtly evolved into the more plural form, an "Ahem" was heard.

Breaking their lip lock, both heads turned towards the noise. Chuck murmured, "Oh right. Casey's still here."

"Not that it seems to matter to you two", was the muttered reply.

Chuck grinned. "I guess it's a side effect of having to live with all those bugs."

Casey snorted. "Did the Director give any more instructions we need to know?"

"Actually he did. He said we are to report to him and only him after you've been given the stand down code. Any and all contact should be avoided with the General. If, for some reason contact cannot be avoided, we are to ignore any instructions that might endanger or compromise the team's ability to function, in an official or unofficial capacity.

Casey and Sarah eyes met before flicking over to look at Chuck. Chuck sheepishly shrugged.

---o---

The screen showed a slightly different view then they were accustomed to. Director Graham was seated and there was no sign of the General.

"Is there any other information we need to know sir?" Sarah asked, her face an emotionless mask.

"Just stay close to Bartowski. I trust you have the capability to handle that?"

She swallowed hard. "Yes sir."

The Director's mouth tweaked up at the corners. "Good." He then turned to Casey. "Major I expect you will keep a close eye on things and ensure everything runs smoothly."

"Yes sir." Casey shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't worry Major. I will be bringing the General up to speed today. My expectation is that we should be back at status quo at the next briefing, with the new changes in place for Agent Walker and her boyfriend, the Intersect."

The agents exchanged a quick glance at the Director's choice of words.

Casey nodded. "Thank you sir."

The screen went black.

"Well now that that's done, I'm going _home." _Sarah turned towards the apartment door. Both of them knew exactly which home she was talking about and it had nothing to do with a lonely hotel room.

---o---

Sipping on his coffee he politely inquired, "How did your 'hit' go on the Intersect?" His eyes twinkled in contrast to his bland question.

Beckman grimaced and narrowed her eyes. "Apparently the Major was reluctant to carry out the order."

"Really?" His eyebrows rose as he poorly feigned surprise. "So your agent was compromised?" Unable to hold in his mirth over the situation he sarcastically added, "That's too bad."

"I fail to see what's so funny about National Security", she growled. "With them moving in together I give her a month before she compromised."

He didn't see the need to tell her that based on the information he had, she had been compromised long ago. "So what if she is? For that matter, what do you care? As long as she does nothing to compromise their cover and they get the job done, it shouldn't matter."

"It's against protocol and you know it."

Something about her tone sparked a chord in him. His mouth pulled down into a frown and his forehead wrinkled as his voice raised, throwing back a phrase she had used on him in a previous conversation. "Do _you know how agencies work_? Everything we do is against the protocol's we set for our agents. Jesus Christ, I don't even know why we just don't call them _guidelines_. If _they_ become a problem, we _fix it, regardless of any rule book."_

"Well I'm glad we see eye to eye on something."

"Not exactly." He replied coldly. "My latest intel said you had the Doctor load Chuck with some kind of experimental commands to control him through his unconscious. Mind contributing on why you did that to an asset you wanted terminated?"

She shrugged. "Unlike you I cover all my bases. And he's obsolete already, with every passing day he becomes more and more useless. The controls will help keep him in line, especially now that he is to be kept alive."

His response was immediate. "Sometimes you're a dumb bitch."

Her eye bugging at his verbal attack, "Pardon me?!"

"I already took care of Chuck. Using some of the new procedures, I had him updated by the Doctor. It _was my project first_. Remember? What made you think we didn't know how to update him? We've been working on this project in varying forms with field agents for the last decade!"

Her lower jaw fell.

"Not so quick to comment now are we? Now that your experimental bullshit is in there there's a good chance it will fuck this up for all of us."

Attempting to regain control of the conversation she tried to push more aggressively. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"You weren't involved in the early projects for obvious reasons. Mostly because it was none of the NSA's business and even after the sanctioned inter-agency requirements it's been apparent that you wanted nothing to do with it. Now we have the latent code and your experimental shit to deal with."

"What are you talking about?" What kind of 'latent' code?"

"The original projects were for assassinations and later expanded to black ops covert work. Techniques and methods covered everything from deep cover assassination to nuclear warhead disarmament and all the areas needed between to accomplish the missions."

"Is there anything else your agency left out?" She snapped.

He glared at her. "The old projects were mothballed and the Intersect was piled on top of the base code. It should never resurface. At least it wouldn't have until your agency became involved. The latest feedback from my technicians tells me there is a 1 in 3 probability of unintentional resurfacing of the old code. That in itself is a problem further complicated by the fact that our latent coding will not be compatible with your newer control coding."

My people figure he will either find a happy medium or go completely insane. At which time I wash my hands of it and inform our superiors of _your_ authorized actions. I already received permission through the proper channels to update the human Intersect. I somehow doubt you obtained similar permissions for your shit."

General Beckman's face paled at the mention of their superiors. "Suggestions on handling this?"

Slightly mollified by her subservience, "All we can do is wait. If we tip off our agents and Chuck realizes they are acting differently, it might trigger the code at which time we will have to figure out how to deal with it." He stopped pacing and looked her directly in the eyes.

"I extended some extra leeway to the agents _and Chuck_ to help deal with the problem. Until then, I'd appreciate it if you stopped making things more God damn difficult."

He left without slamming the door.

She raised her hands to her face and rubbed her eyes. The irony of the situation was not lost on her. The same nerd she wanted killed was now the same nerd that might save her own neck. _Sometimes I really hate this fucking job._

_---o---_

Sarah was already done with the briefing and sitting on the couch when Chuck returned.

"Where did you go Chuck?"

Grinning, "Sorry. I thought you would be a little longer." He held up a cake box.

Sarah gave him a surprised look. "What's up with the cake Chuck?"

Choosing to ignore her, he walked directly towards the dining area and deposited the cake on the table.

Intrigued by his behaviour, Sarah approached the table as he unboxed the treat. It clearly read 'Happy Birthday' on top of the cake. For the life of her she couldn't remember anyone's birthday being today or in the next few days.

"Chuck, you were supposed to be making lunch. You came home with a cake. Is there something I'm missing?"

"Not exactly. I was on my way out to pick up lunch when I passed a bakery and realized that we never got the cake we talked about in the hospital some weeks back."

"Cake? Hospital?" She muttered as she tried to jog her memory.

Chuck non-chalantly swiped a finger along the side of the cake, gathering a reasonable finger full of icing and began to suck it off his finger very slowly.

"You remember now?"  
Her right eyebrow arched. "I might remember _something _about that." She looked back down at the cake. "And you expect me to eat _all of that_ while you watch?"

Chuck, having finished his first finger full, grabbed another one and stepped in close to Sarah. He gave her a chaste kiss. "Actually, if your past performance is any indication, I don't think you'll get past the first couple of fingers.

"Well then, what do you plan on doing with the rest of the cake?"

He grinned like a Cheshire cat and swiped his icing loaded finger across the bridge of her nose. Before she could to more than gasp he attached his mouth over the icing and sucked it off. Pulling back, his grin was back. "I was kind of thinking that maybe I could eat it off of you."

Both eyebrows shot up and stayed up. "Your washing the sheets."

"Sounds like a fair trade to me", he smirked as he walked to the bedroom. "And don't forget the cake." He said over his shoulder.

---o---


	22. And Downhill We Go

_A/N: Be aware that the topic coverage in this chapter and possibly subsequent ones(depends if I have to split chapters due to size) leans towards more mature nature, albeit with today's cultural sway, some of the teens might find it 'General', while some adults may lean towards 'PG'. ___

_For an easy time following the chapters, I suggest you reread at least a few chapters back or you will be somewhat lost in the story. As some time has passed since I last worked on this story and the season 2 has now completed, I find myself making slight tweaks to mirror the series slightly. Of course, I do find it a little ironic that it appears the Season 2 series ending has somewhat mirrored one topic/aspect of my story; at least when it comes to the Intersect data. ___

_Keep in mind that at this point in the story for the AU, it is somewhere around the beginning of Season 2 in a very rough time relation comparison and while in my AU Chuck and Sarah are much more advanced in their relationship, Chuck's character is not where it is at the end of Season 2. ____ lol._

**Chapter 21 - 5689**

**And Downhill We Go**

Mary stood on the sun deck of her home; the only place that afforded her any semblance of calm. It was the cool blue of the water and the cloudless blue sky that provided her with some serenity. At least it did most days; today, not so much. Her mind roiled with the tumultuous feelings of the last 12 weeks. It had been hell. She seemed blithely unaware of her white fingered grip on the steel railing as she stood looking out over the water. The muscles of her bare toned arms taut in the spaghetti strapped summer dress.

On paper everything looked fantastic. The home's recent nursery & hospital additions were done and equipped well beyond what would be considered state of the art for even the most prestigious Hollywood clinics. Money did amount to something and the more money you had, the more something's it made.

The home itself was operating well and every last piece of the previous owner's assets had been officially, and more importantly, legally transitioned into her name. Staff performance was above expectation, including the new ones she had hired for the extensions to the home. In short, everything was going exactly as she had foreseen it would. Everything but how she would _feel._

She just wasn't functioning like she had expected. Not that she had suddenly become physically incompetent on incapable, but she had become somewhat emotionally uncontrollable. She simply had not counted on the massive swings in her mood. They seemed to have a mind of their own and it was creating havoc for her and the household staff.

The doctor on staff had stated that emotional instability was a normal part of any pregnancy, typically a direct result of the bodies changing hormones. He also cautioned that the severity of the mood might be a side effect of the specialized fertility drugs used. The fertility compound she had taken had been known to escalate the female's hormonal response, but the real world testing had not seen any cases close to the magnitude of hers. The doctor seemed to think it was akin to the postpartum depression commonly seen _after_ the child is born.

The staff psychiatrist reviewed her history and suggested it was more of an overload brought on by the lack of emotional attachment and the mental disconnect her lifestyle had propagated. His analysis concluded that the overload was a direct manifestation from both the hormonal increase in her body and her strange attraction and attachment to the baby's father. It wasn't depression per se, but an intense and uncontrollable longing for the father of the child.

Except for the psychiatrist, Mary told no one of the secret desire to be with the father, although everyone could see that _something else_ was a factor in the pregnancy and it was connected to her brief time away. She knew what she felt and had given up on denying it to herself over two months ago. Telling the psychiatrist did little to help her emotionally. He recommended that she confide with someone she was emotionally close to. It took Mary all of a fraction of a second to know her way of life had made her a solitary person. If she had to choose one person on the planet who might fit into the category of disclosing her emotions, it would be the man who impregnated her and he was the problem. A catch-22 at its finest.

With no one to share her secret desire, it just stayed bottled up, building in pressure until it leaked out in uncontrollable reactions. Generally that meant extended bouts of sobbing, although lately there had been a few instances in which it manifested itself as a sexual frenzy. The first time it happened she had been as shocked as the staff member she had sexually assaulted. It lasted no more than a few minutes before it abated, leaving her withdrawn and quiet. He quietly let himself out of the room, leaving with scratches all over his body and a large but bewildered grin. The next day, she found that wherever she went, there was at least one male member of the staff. She had pointed out the fact to her chief of staff who promptly reminded her that _they_ were more than willing to satisfy any request she required as it is part of their duties and was, until somewhat recently, an expected benefit of the job. That led to a daily ritual from which she took a very minute amount of enjoyment, but at this stage of development anything was better than nothing.

Then there was the _other surprise_ she hadn't bargained on. Not that she minded, she just never thought about having twins. When the doctor informed her of the second fetus, she realized her error immediately. Her initial work focused on the drug safety, uses, and overall health of the children born, as well as any lingering side effects. Not once did she think to review the ratio of children to mothers. Instead she reviewed only the total _number _of children born to the mothers taking the drug. It turned out twins was an uncommon result, with the majority being triplets or more. Of this point she was pleased. _Two was enough_, she thought.

Looking down at her hands she saw her vice-like grip on the white metal. Her eyelids closed and her chest heaved as she pulled in a deep breath, relaxing her hands as she exhaled. Opening her eyes slowly, she turned by to the nearby table and went back to her breakfast of fruit and cereal. After all, a _stressed mother only serves to create stressed babies_, she thought. She focused on the rhythmic movement and ebb of the water as she ate.

---o---

General Beckman stared out the window while her right hand slowly swirled the rye around in her glass, letting the alcohol cool as it bounced over the ice. Her Pentagon office afforded her large windows, letting in substantial light and giving her a fairly broad view of the scenery. In her opinion, the view was merely adequate and today was no exception as her eyes remained unfocused as she starred outwards and over the landscape; none the visuals registering in her brain. Her mouth was tight, the lips flat. If someone would have seen her looking out the window they would have likely interpreted her neutral face and flat lips as someone who was bored. Anyone in the room would have _felt_ an unspoken malevolence and aggressive demeanour to her body that did not seem to be reflected in her face.

A sudden shift in the office air and the tiniest breeze touched her right hand; the corners of her mouth turned up a very slight amount as her eyes focused and became cold. She used her left foot to push off, and her chair spun towards the office door, the greeting sliding out of her mouth before she could even acknowledge the visitor by sight. "Good afternoon Director."

She stopped her chair when it faced him standing on the other side of your desk. "And to what might I owe this visit?"

If he was surprised that she knew it was him, he didn't show it. He kept his face cheerful as he replied.

"The new Intersect is online."

"_Really?_ I thought you were quite happy with Mr. Bartowski?" She sarcastically replied before swallowing a mouthful of alcohol, her eyes never leaving his face as she waited for a reply.

Director Graham's eyelids tightened ever so slightly before he responded. "The Bartowski team is doing fine, but there is still the question of _your_ antics with the Asset." The briefest smile touched his lips as he watched her smirk turn into a frown. "We are going to use them in extreme situations only. At least until we can ascertain the amount of damage_ your_ upload caused and in the meantime, business as usual with the new computer Intersect. I will be taking some agents for upload testing as soon as we can arrange it and since the people we report to requested you stay onboard with the Intersect projects, I am here to _keep you informed."_

"Well how nice of you to do so." Came her snappish reply.

He turned to leave, speaking as he did. "Now if you'll excuse me, _I _have work to do."

She watched him leave, and once he was gone a slow smile eased itself out and in one quick motion, she raised and drained the remaining rye from the glass. Spinning her chair back to the window, the faintest whisper could be heard, "Times almost up_ you arrogant bastard."_

---o---

Chuck fumbled through the first aid kit in the break room, his frantic hand bumping into items in its hasty search. Chuck's eyelids tightened shut and his hand paused in its search. The grinding of teeth could be heard in the stillness of the room. The light from the hallway barely penetrated the darkness to where Chuck stood. If anyone had looked through the break room door window, they would have seen Chuck frozen in the darkness as the light spilt over him and the small wall mounted medic cabinet in front of him. His eyelids open marginally more than slits, his hand restarted its movement. Slower this time and more directed it closed around a bottle, grasping it like it was a precious commodity. A long lost treasure, as it were. Chuck pulled the bottle to his chest, an audible whimper slipped past his lips. He turned and moved to the table nearest him, slowly pulling a chair back, and leaning heavily on the table as his legs bent enough for him to sit.

The left hand slipped off the lid, releasing it to roll off the table and onto the floor. If Chuck cared, he gave no indication, his right hand already moving to shake the contents of the bottle into his mouth. The sound of the small pills clacked loudly as the excess that didn't make it into his mouth bounced off the hard surface of the table and floor.

His eyelids now tight, he chewed slowly, crushing any and all the pills that made it into his mouth, while his hands reached for the bottle of water on the table. Several gulps later, and the tiny bottle was empty, his fingers simply letting it drop to the floor, to bounce around before coming to rest against a leg of the table. Chuck folded his arms in front of him and rested his head face down in the crook of his uppermost arm.

---o---

Sarah was fully dressed and face down on Chuck's bed, her arms wrapped around a pillow. Her back rose and fell as she inhaled _his scent_ off of it. Her eyes remained closed as she breathed, intoxicated by it. Memories clearly stirring in her head, as her arms tightened around the pillow and her legs shifted as if looking for something. The buzz of her iPhone jarred her eyelids open while her brow creased and mouth flickered into a frown for a fraction of a second before she answered. "What's up Casey?"

"Where are you?" Came his gruff reply.

Her eyes rolled as she sat up. "At _home._"

He grunted. "Well get down to the new location."

She was standing immediately as she checked for her gun with her free hand. "Is it Chuck? Did something happen? What's his status?" she asked as a slight edge of urgency slipped into her voice.

"Relax Walker. He was napping in the break room earlier. You might want to go a little easier on him at night", Casey quipped.

"_Casey..._", she said, feeling his feel his grin through the phone.

He ignored her tone, "I need you down her to the Orange-Orange to go over the last minute additions we set up for your new job."

Non-plussed by his comments, she kept down a retort and replied simply, "On my way."

---o---

"Well I'm not helping him. It's obviously a green shirt problem." snapped Lester.

"Why don't we get Anna? Maybe she can understand him?" Jeff volunteered.

Speaking through his right index finger, which he had position on his lips, "You know that's the first good idea you've had in weeks." Turning he scanned the store, his eyes darting down the aisles. As he approached full circle in his turn he spoke, "Uh...Jeff? Did you see Anna clock in?"

"No. She has the day off."

Lester's face scrunched sideways as he stared incredulously at Jeff. "And why wouldn't you tell me this before? What good is she if she's not _even here_? How are we supposed to send her over to talk to that... that Chinese, Mexican, German, alien geezer to find out what he wants?"

"Why don't we ask him?" Jeff said, as he watched the old man wander the store trying to catch a salesman's attention.

Lester shook his head side to side. "Jeff. How many times do we have to go over this? We can't understand him." Lester held his hands up beside his mouth and began opening and closing them like puppets mimicking a mouth speaking. "_WE. CAN. NOT. UNDERSTAND. HIM."_ Putting his hands down he looked back over his shoulder at the customer as another green shirt ducked out of sight to avoid him. "At this rate he's never going to leave the store." Still watching the old man he tiredly mumbled, "That was why we wanted Anna."

Jeff's eyes widen in excitement, "Right! You know we could call her at _home._ I scoped her number." He froze staring in the distance before grabbing Lester's shoulder excitedly. "Oh yah. Maybe she needs to be picked up! I could totally use my stalking van. But we would need to make a stop at my place to offload the equipment and throw my mattress in back fist....cause...just in case she .....you know." He emphasized his final words with an exaggerated wink.

Lester's face became slack. "You know what Jeff. Change of plan. Let's get Morgan." Turning in a random direction, he moved away at a brisk pace, calling as he walked, "Morgan! Morgan! Assistance Morgan!"

Jeff watched Lester, raised his shoulders up and down and followed after at a more sedate pace.

---o---

"Don't worry Lester. I'm on it. I'll get Chuck. He'll know what to do." Morgan said confidently. "In the meantime, you get the old guy up to the Nerd Herd desk and keep him there while I get Chuck. He said something about a headache and needing a bit of a rest at lunch time. I think he headed for the break room. I'll grab him and meet you back here."

"Excellent plan Morgan. You must have overheard me tell Jeff that Chuck was the man for the job. Just wanted to be a BuyMore team player and get a second opinion to......"

Morgan interrupted, "Right.....I'll get Chuck." He turned and ran off leaving Lester to his part of the deal.

Lester looked back at the old man. "Jeff, I think we just got the crappy part of the job."

--o--

Morgan slowed down to a more civilized pace upon reaching the 'Staff Only' hall. His pace came to an abrupt stop as he approached the door to the break room and realized the break room light wasn't on. It was store policy to always be on, even when closed.

"Chuck did say he had headache; maybe he was tired." He mumbled to himself, casting a nervous glance down the hallway before turning the knob and opening the door a crack. "Chuck? Buddy? You in here?" he called in a slightly shaky whisper.

"Mmmmorgan?" came the muffled reply.

Morgan breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door all the way, stepping into the room while reaching for the light switch. Flicking it on, he froze in his tracks taking in the sight before him. Chuck had his head buried in the crook of his arm, eyes completely covered. A small puddle of water sat near Chuck's feet, obviously the last remnants of the water bottle inches from his foot. A large Migraine strength Tylenol bottle lay on the floor nearby. Chuck was surrounded by pills. Some on the table, on the floor and even on him.

Morgan started moving again, speaking softly, "Hey buddy, I think the objective is to take two and put them _in_ your mouth, not scatter them around you." He chuckled softly. "I don't think their certified to ward off bad spirits, or in this case headaches when used like that."

Chuck didn't respond.

Morgan dropped the humor, looking a little worried he leaned in towards his friend and gently shook his shoulder. Chucks head snapped up so fast, Morgan jumped back a step, startled.

"Morgan? What's up?" He said in a slightly groggy voice with his eyes still closed.

"Ahhh, maybe you should tell me? You ok?" His brows scrunched towards his nose. "You didn't have a fight with Sarah did you?"

"Mmmm?" Chuck straightened and stretched his arms out to his sides as he yawned. "S'all good." He said, but kept his eyes closed.

Morgan recapped the nearly empty water bottle. "Alrighty then", he responded in a somewhat disbelieving tone. "Hey, uh, Lester and Jeff have some customer out front that they need help with, so I said you could handle it. You up for it?"

Chuck's eyes popped open. "Sure. I'm on it little buddy." He stood and left the room without so much as a backward glance.

Morgan's mouth opened as if to speak, but before anything could be uttered, Chuck's long legs had taken him well out of hearing. Breathing a sigh, he looked down and began to pick up the pills.

---o---

Sarah ignored the 'Opening Soon' sign on the door of the Orange-Orange, instead pulling out a key and unlocking it before relocking it behind her. Her stride was confident and she headed directly into the rear of the tiny yogurt shop and into the freezer area.

A pull of the light fixture exposed a hidden panel which, when she stepped forward, performed a retinal scan and opened a previously hidden door. She proceeded through the opening, with the door closing automatically behind her. Once past the doorway she continued down a steep flight of stairs which brought her into the mini operations room, with several monitors sitting over long computer console and a hallway opposite them leading into other areas.

She nodded to Casey who sat at a long table positioned in the center of the room. He grunted and returned his focus back to the files in front of him. Once she had acknowledged him she made a beeline towards the closest console and pulled up the BuyMore video feeds. She noted Casey's smirk in the reflection of one of the off monitors as he watched her. She ignored him and kept flipping feeds until she spotted Chuck.

A small sigh escaped her lips as her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. Chuck was standing at the Nerd Herd desk helping a small Asian fellow with what looked to be a digital camera. Both people appeared to be quite comfortable and she saw no reason to suspect anything untoward Chuck. Having sated her worry, she left the monitor running and turned to face Casey. "So?"

"So Agent Walker, we need to bring Chuck up to speed on the new job. You start tomorrow. We'll be assigning him an access code for entry into Castle as well."

"Castle?" Sarah said, her head tilted slightly to the left as her right brow reached for the sky.

Casey snorted. "I figured I'd name it before Chuck did. Based on his geeky profile, I'm pretty confident he'll appreciate the name."

Sarah couldn't help but smile a little. She glanced back at the monitor watching Chuck, noting that he was talking to Morgan. A deep breath to focus on the task and hand, "Ok, let's get started. The sooner we get this going the sooner I can get back to .....home."

It was Casey's turn to raise brow. "_Right_, cause the pillows are _sooo comfy._"

She gave him a frosty glare, daring him to say anything else.

Casey conceded, settling on a smirk and looking down at his file folder.

With his eyes safely averted, she released the tiny smile she had been hiding from his teasing. After all, what fun would it be if she gave everything away.

---o---

Morgan finished the minor cleanup and headed to find Chuck. It wasn't hard. Lester and Jeff where standing with an easy half dozen green shirts watching something as they talked amongst themselves. Coming up behind them he startled them when he spoke. "What's going on? Did Chuck help that customer of yours? The green shirts scattered as Jeff and Lester spun to face Morgan.

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "Ok that was weird" He muttered quietly under his breath.

"Hey! Morgan. Pal. Umm...Chuck is...ahh...." Lester turned towards the Nerd Herd desk and then back to face Morgan. "He's helping him now."

Leaning to one side, Morgan could see around Lester, easily spotting Chuck helping an older gentleman with what looked to be a digital camera. "Cool. I knew Chuck could handle it. Well guys, it's been a slice but I'm heading on break." Without waiting for a response he spun on his heel and headed back the way he came to the break room.

Lester's voice rang out a little too loudly, "Wait!"

Morgan paused and cast a glance towards him. "Come on guys. I already got Chuck. What else do you need?" he whined as they had begun to grate on him.

Lester looked at Jeff, who merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok Morgan we give. How is Chuck doing it?"

"Guys, I'm not really in the mood for games. How is Chuck doing _what exactly?"_

Jeff stuck out his arm and pointed to Chuck and the old man several feet away. "That." As if his finger pointing explained everything.

Fortunately Lester came to the rescue and filled in the blanks. "He _doesn't speak English._"

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, Morgan looked again, this time watching intently. The customer was conversing quite easily to Chuck and Chuck seemed to be explaining how the camera works. The customer was smiling and nodding, while Chuck, albeit a looking a little worse for the wear, was seen laughing and smiling.

Morgan shook his head side to side. "Ok, that's it! He's helping a customer and I'm going for break. Obviously he does speak English. You guys can find your fun elsewhere." He rotated to march off when Lester grabbed him by the arm.

"No Morgan. Come closer and you'll understand." Lester said as he physically pulled Morgan towards Chuck, stopping only when they were in range to hear the customer's conversation with Chuck.

Within hearing, it didn't take long to realize that while Chuck is speaking English, the customer is very clearly speaking something else. Whatever it is, Chuck seems to have no problem understanding.

With Morgan's mouth hanging loose and at a loss for words, Jeff fills the silence. "See!"

Finally the customer appears to be done, but only leaves after happily shaking Chuck's hand.

Morgan instantly shook his arm out of Lester's clutches and moved towards Chuck.

Chuck didn't notice Morgan's hasty approach until the smaller man was standing so close as to almost be on the tips of his shoes. Chuck eyelids were droopy and the grin he gave the customer had already slid off his face as fast as butter on a hot day. He rubbed his temples as he spoke. "Hey Morgan, what's up?"

"Dude!"

Chuck remained silent, waiting for Morgan to explain.

Realizing that nothing was forthcoming, Morgan asked, "How did you do that?"

Lester and Jeff stayed off to the side, their faces rapt with interest as they attempted to listen in without giving themselves away.

"Do what? Help a customer? If you don't know how to do that by now, you're going to be in serious trouble." He gave him a wan smile. "You know buddy, it's not that hard to help customers. You should try it sometime. Preferably before big Mike gets on another sales kick and threatens job loss again. On that note, I'm kicking it for the day. Can you cover the last bit of my shift?" He didn't wait for an answer; instead he headed to the lockers for his things.

Morgan was still staring at him as he followed in Chuck's wake. "No dude! How did you do THAT?"

Chuck stopped to look at Morgan. "Morgan. I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I do have a KILLER headache though, so if you could get to the point, that would be great."

Morgan cooked his head to the right in an effort to determine if Chuck was yanking his chain. "I mean how did you talk to that guy? He wasn't even speaking English."

A tiny smile fought its way onto Chuck's mouth. "Morgan, I know you're my best friend and all, but I'm just so not in the mood right now. Sure he did have a bit of an accent, but I understood him just fine. Maybe you just need to get your hearing checked."

Morgan: But...but..

Chuck: Sorry buddy, I have to get some rest at home and before I can do that I need get out of here. Talk to you later, k?

As Chuck headed off, Lester and Jeff stepped up to flank Morgan's sides. "What was up with that?"

"I have no idea, but believe me, I'm going to find out what's up with my bro. Maybe he's been taking classes on the side or something."

Jeff and Lester shared a look and left, their interest already fading, leaving Morgan to stare after his friend, quietly speaking to himself, "but why wouldn't he tell _me?_"

--o—

"Sarah?" Chuck called as he entered the apartment. He already knew Ellie and Devon weren't home, as they told him they would be working doubles again to get more time off for the wedding. Not hearing a response from Sarah, Chuck pulled his phone out and pressed Sarah's speed dial number.

"Hey Sarah."

--

"No, I left work. I just wanted to check in so you wouldn't worry."

--

"No, everything's ok. I had a bad headache and was pretty tired so I had Morgan cover my shift."

--

"I'll take it easy. I promise. I'm going to lay down for a bit."

--

"No that's fine. I'll probably be sleeping still when you get here."

--

"Some Chinese would be great. Just wake me up when your home."

--

"Love you too." Chuck hung up and walked to the bedroom placing his phone on the night table next to the bed. Knowing Sarah would be late and be bringing supper, would give him some much needed time to get rid of the headache and wake up a bit. Downing another couple of Tylenol, he placed a full glass of water beside the bed and plopped face first into the pillows, sorting through them to find the one that smelled like Sarah before he closed his eyes with smile.

His rest was short lived as the bright daylight burned its way through the closed blinds and his eyelids. The light felt blindingly painful. Then there was the noise. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but it was like a deep hum, buzz or ringing. He couldn't quite place the type of noise exactly, but it was coming from somewhere.

He gritted his teeth, climbed off the bed and went looking for his iPod to block out the extra sounds. He was suddenly quite glad that Morgan had gone all out last Christmas and bought him the expensive ear buds for his iPod. Fitting them snugly into his ears, he selected a few relaxing choices from the Lord of the Rings movie soundtracks and set it up for repeat play. With his ears covered, he just needed the eyes blinded. He could've used Sarah's sleep blindfold things but they were so uncomfortable as to be a hindrance for him. They didn't have a basement to go down into and he was too big to fit in the closet. Trying to come up with ideas he began looking around his bedroom.

His headache eased momentarily and a small warmth appeared in his chest as he noted how much it had changed in the last 2-1/2 months. Sarah had done quite a bit of bedroom _womanizing, _as he liked to think of it. Things were neater, less cluttered. They even had new bed sheets and a bed skirt. His brain suddenly fired up and an idea formed. Kneeling down on the floor he lifted the bed skirt slightly and peered underneath.

The corners of his mouth curled up as he whispered, "Pay dirt." He would have to leave Sarah's pillow as there wasn't enough clearance, but he would just fit under the bed. More importantly, it was almost pitch black. Even in his current state, it occurred to him that Sarah and Casey may worry if they didn't see him on a monitor, but he did not want to call her back and explain that he would be sleeping under the bed either. He was trying to be tougher, not wimpy as that would be ample ammo for Casey to use.

He decided to play it safe. He would put the pillows under the blankets and they would see him do it on the monitor. If they weren't watching at that exact instant, then it wouldn't be a problem as he would likely be awake before Sarah got home. They wouldn't be worried as it would appear he was in bed. If they did see him put the pillows in the bed, he would give them a hand signal to show he was under the bed. With the headache clouding his thoughts, he arranged the pillows and gave a hand sign before crouching down and crawling under the bed to drift off to the music.

--o—

It was dark outside before she got home. "Chuck? I'm home. Grab some dishes while I use the washroom. Foods on the table."

Sarah was about to close the bathroom door when she stopped. She cocked her head to one side, and listened more intently. "Chuck?" she called again. With no response she slipped a hand behind her back to grasp her gun. She reopened the bathroom door and stealthy moved to the bedroom, pushing the door open with the tip of her left hand, her right now holding her gun. "Chuck, are you there?"

Again no response and she moved towards the lump on the bed. She reached out to shake the shoulder but stopped upon touch, and yanked back the blanket instead.

Seeing the pillows, she moved through the apartment clearing each room with the sweep of her gun. Satisfied that no one was hiding, she flipped on the bedroom light, spotting Chuck's iPhone on the bedside table instantly. Her face as hard as stone she called Casey.

"Casey, bring up surveillance on Chuck. He's not at home, but his phone is."

--

"Hey honey. You up from some _Asian_ tonight?" Anna said, trailing a nailed finger down the front of Morgan's shirt. "I thought I might come _pick you up_, since your shift is almost over." Her voice was wet with seduction and her mouth moved to nibble on Morgan's neck.

"Yah, you know what Anna? Maybe not right now." He leaned away from her and pushed her back slightly with his left hand.

Anna's eyebrow rose considerably and she was not smiling. "What's going on Morgan? You never turn me down."

His eyes darted over Anna's face. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just that my bro was acting all weird today and he just brushed it off." Morgan paused. "He brushed me off."

It only took a second for it to register with Anna, and her voice easily conferred the disbelief, "Chucky? What do you mean weird?"

Morgan looked directly at her as he tried to emphasize what he saw. "He was talking to this old guy and he could understand him!"

"Morgan, a lot of people can talk to old people. Sure they always talk about boring stuff, but we can still understand them."

"I don't know Anna. Maybe that's it. Maybe we weren't listening very well, but I would swear the old guy was talking a totally different language." He said, his frustration leaking out.

The corner of Anna's lip curled into a frown. "Who's _we?"_

Morgan gave his head a little shack to snap out of his thoughts. "Oh, Jeff and Lester."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Morgan. How many times do I have to tell you? Don't hang with them and if you do, ignore what they say! Besides, this is Chuckles you're talking about. He may be a super nerd, but he is not the _weird _type." She laughed a little.

Morgan looked at his girlfriend as he weighed her words while she waited patiently. She raised both eyebrows expectantly and he was done thinking.

"You know what hon, you're right." Morgan's face warmed and a smile appeared. "Now what was that you said about Asian? I am kind of hungry after all." He said as his smiled turned into a devilish grin.

---o---

Sarah opened the door to let in Casey. One look at her face and he began speaking, "I checked the watch tracking from my apartment. It still says he is in the bedroom." They both moved back to the bedroom. It didn't help the 'Castle' didn't have all the surveillance up and running yet. Casey lead footed it home, while Sarah held down the fort.

They moved back into the bedroom to re-search it. Casey looked at Sarah, "Did you look under the bed?"

The enlarged pupils and slightly pale face gave him the information he needed, even if she hadn't answered.

"Why would he be under the bed.....unless someone....". The sentence was left unfinished.

Casey leaned down and flipped back the bed skirt. "Bartowski!" He waited. "Bartowski!", he called again much louder. He could literally feel Walker hold her breath as she waited. His eyes flicked back to his rigid partner and then back to the bed before suddenly reaching under the bed to grab a leg. He didn't fail to notice her gun hand shake as he reached under the bed and pulled the leg...

---o---


	23. Downhill Can be Bumpy Or Not

_A/N March 2009: Hmmm...I had no idea I left the previous chapter off where I did. Kind of a cliff hanger. Lol. I had assumed (obviously incorrectly) that I would be working on the chapters immediately. I had problems with this next chapter. Blame writers block. In short it was definitely not turning out like I wanted it to. It's better now and hopefully you will enjoy it. Sorry about the lengthy delays in writing, but as my life becomes busier, it leaves less time to write._

_A/N August 2010: *cough* Now I'm WAY behind. ;) I had this chapter 90% ready to go a year and a half ago. Ok...my AU as originally written in the 2007/8 season (during writer's strike) is now a bit behind in some aspects, the show itself has either caught up & surpassed some ideas and not quite there in others. I had the direction set back in early 2008, but stumbled with writers block and how to transition to match some of the newer developments for Season 2 and beyond. I like to match character developments (with the exception of Sarah, whom I found to be a little too anaemic romantically, hence my AU) and her character in my story is the least likely to match with the Seasonal growth. Season 3 has caught up and matched ideas from myself and other fans, which is fantastic as it shows the writers are listening to the fans. It also allows me to keep the process moving forward but indirectly leverage the actual Season events in an offhand way. In other areas, it makes the ideas look less original than they were. Shrug. As for coinciding with the newer Season info, I'm not sure how this will be done exactly, but I'm thinking a time lapse will come into play soon. I apologize for any errors as my writing skills are likely to be rusty. Notify me of any logic/edit issues please. Enjoy. _

**Chapter 22 - 4086**

**Downhill Can Be Bumpy..or Not**

The blood was running down his forehead and dangerously close to dripping into his right eye, but he did nothing to wipe it away. "I didn't want you to worry!", he spat in frustration.

Sarah, standing an arm's length in front of him with her eyes wide, responded, "You make it look like your sleeping in bed, when you're not, and your reasoning is that you don't want me to worry?" Astonishment poured out of her like a waterfall, carrying a tidal wave of emotions with it. Her eyes scrunched together as her head shifted forward as she grasped for the logic in his actions and found none.

If Chuck had been at 100%, he would have heard the waver in her voice, and noticed her distraught look as she reached up to his head to stop the flow of blood; but he wasn't at his best and he didn't notice. Instead he pushed her arm away and shifted his body and head slightly away from her reach. Chuck's eyes lost focus for a moment before looking down and to the right; his pause hung in the air between them.

She held herself frozen, awaiting an explanation that was slow in coming.

Keeping his eyes averted, a tiny rise of the shoulders and a sheepish response slipped out of his mouth, "Well it sounds kind of bad now, but at the time it seemed totally logical." His voice quietly fading as he finished the sentence, knowing that his vocalization of the words made it sound as pathetic as he felt.

Sensing a change, Sarah's right eyebrow headed for the clouds but as her mouth dropped open to respond, Chuck was pulled away by Casey. He had returned to the bedroom carrying a small towel, icepack and his trademark 'how can you be so stupid' attitude.

"Bartowski, what kind of lame brain idea was that and how did you think we would..."

Sarah interrupted icily, "I think _I've _got this John. Don't you have something to do?" She pulled the towel and ice from his grasp, giving him a tiny nod, her eyes flicking a quick glance toward the bedroom door. Chuck may not have been quick on his feet at the moment, but Casey was more than sharp enough to understand the implied order.

Casey looked at her, then Chuck, then back at her before nodding and dropping his grimace. "You know what? I think I've got work to do." He slowly backed out the door, closing it behind him, but not before he muttered, "Far be it for me to interfere in a domestic dispute."

Chuck's head jerked towards Casey, involuntarily hissing at his own sudden movement, as he caught a hint of mischief in the disappearing voice. "Domestic dispute? What is that supposed to mean Casey? Casey?", Chuck called after him but the door had already closed on his plea for understanding.

-o-

Casey could hear the schmuck calling for clarification after the door was closed. He grunted and walked back to his apartment. The kid was in good hands. Besides, it was easy enough to make sure using the monitors; no need to be in the way as she dished out some well needed smack down.

He didn't really bother tuning in much while they were together, but this might be one of those times where she put him in his place and he couldn't help but feel it was a little bit deserved. Everyone was getting a little _too _soft lately. Nothing wrong with a bit of tough love.

His grin widened and he picked up the pace. He had a bottle of 15 year old single malt Scotch calling his name. A drink or two might be in order for the upcoming show. A snort of amusement echoed through the small courtyard, fading just as quickly as he entered his apartment.

-o-

Sarah turned to Chuck, stepping forward to feel his rapid breath on her cheek. "It means Mr. Bartowski, you're in a world of trouble." Using the towel she patted some of the blood away from his forehead and placed the icepack in his right hand.

He deflated a little, his voice calming as he tried to put the previous events back together. "Oh come on Sarah. It wasn't that bad. Besides, it's not like I didn't leave you a clue. All you had to do was rewind the surveillance video and you would have seen me point to where..."

Holding his right hand, she forced it up and onto the bleeding goose-egg bump. He hissed through clenched teeth as she forced the icepack hand onto his forehead.

"_Point? Point!" _Her voice rose rapidly._ "_Chuck, couldn't you come up with something better than a thumbs _down?" _

His hand had dropped away from the forehead as her voice climbed, at which point she promptly pushed the hand back in place, forcing Chuck to hiss again as the ice contacted with the bump. Sarah ignored him and kept speaking, "They used to feed people to the lions over a thumbs down! Why not just a simple note or phone call or _even a different finger? Something? Anything?"_

"I didn't want to bother you over something stupid as to where I was sleeping. I didn't even leave the house! Need I remind you that I'm the one that got woken up and viciously dragged from the bed, smashing my head in the process. It was bad enough that Casey was the one scaring the shit out of me, now I'll never hear the end of it from him. I don't see why this is such a big deal. I was exactly where I said I would be...kind of...just 2 feet below it. It's not like-"

"CHUCK!", Sarah snapped loudly as her hands moved to clasp either side of his head, ensuring she was looking directly into her eyes. "We were worried!" She paused before looking into his face. "_I_ was worried." Her hands fell softly to the base of his neck.

Chuck pulled her close as her eyes misted ever so slightly. Wordlessly he placed a gentle kiss on her head; her arms tightened around him in response. They stood there for a very long time before climbing into bed. The rest of the evening was quiet. Chuck spoke very little but held Sarah a lot, much to Casey's dismay.

Once in bed, she had snuggled close but sleep was a long time coming for her, while Chuck was out in what appeared seconds. More than once she woke him to ensure there was no concussion, but each time he awoke with little trouble; reassured her he was alright, pulled her close and dropped back to sleep in very short order.

Sarah spent a significant portion of the night watching him sleep, but very little of it sleeping with the morning arriving all too fast.

-o-

Chuck woke to the smell of bacon and eggs. His eyes immediately scanned the bed for Sarah and finding her spot empty he jumped out of bed to hunt down the delicious smell, and hopefully her. Any remnants of yesterday's headache were gone as if they never happened although evening 'lumping' was still a bit tender at that spot.

Two steps into the hallway he saw her in the deep red silk nighty, at the stove making breakfast. He immediately dismissed trying to sneak up on her. If nothing else, the past couple of months of living with her had proven without a doubt that she always knew where he was in the house. As it was, sneaking up on her was simply not a reasonable option for him. His teeth showed through the large grin stuck on his face as he congratulated himself on now being astute enough to pick up on her covert glances to know that she knew that he was there. A 'he knew she knew that he knew that she knew' type scenario, worthy of a scene right out of "The Princess Bride".

It didn't stop him from sliding up behind her and slipping his arms around her before planting a soft kiss on her neck and cheek, following up with a cheerful, "Good morning beautiful."

With the eggs and bacon finished cooking, she slipped the food off the pans and onto the waiting plates, managing quite easily with his arms around her. Setting the pans down on the unused burners, she spun easily in his arms, the slippery silk working to her advantage in the twisting, stopping only when she faced him.

Her brows drawn together and her mouth pursed she calmly spoke. "And what do you think you are doing?"

Chuck chuckled, his eyes light, if not a touch confused at her statement. "I'm hugging the woman I love and saying good morning?" He asked hesitantly, somehow sensing the impending doom of a _wrong answer_ that only men can give when answering women.

Her right eyebrow raised and her mouth remained flat. "I mean last night. You've done some strange things in the past, but deciding to _pack pillows in bed then sleep underneath it!_ What on earth were you thinking?" Her voice rose slowly slightly as she chided him.

His grin faded, as he tried to formulate a way to respond. He quietly released his grasp on her and stepped back. "Sarah, I told you. I don't know what I was thinking. At the time it just seemed ok." He spoke low and a hint of sadness carried through. "I don't know what you want me to say."

When she didn't reply immediately, he did. "You know what? That bump on the head I got last night is still bothering me. I think I'm going to head back to bed." His long legs had carried him back down the hall and into the bedroom, the door clicking behind him as he closed it.

Sarah was left standing in the kitchen, her mouth slightly ajar, shocked at his behaviour. Not only did he not try to defend his actions, he left his food. Closing her mouth, her lips curled in a little as she took stock of the situation. There was something wrong. Despite everything that had happened, and all that she knew, Chuck was not quite himself.

-o-

Casey sipped his coffee as he sat watching the monitors. His gut was telling him something was up last night. He couldn't put his finger on it yet, but sooner or later it would come to him. Things seemed to come to a quick end after he left, but having just watched the latest instalment of 'As the Bartowski World Spins', he had a clear indication of unsolved issues.

In the meantime his eyes jumped to the newest set of extra video feeds he had installed. It had seemed prudent with the current situation, that he monitor a wider audience to ensure fewer interruptions from non-approved government personnel.

He snorted at the screen. What Anna saw in that loser was beyond him. Both of them were still sleeping which was a good thing. When he checked up on them last night, they were definitely compensating for any loss of action between Walker and Bartowski.

Rolling his eyes at the memory he gulped that last remnants of his coffee before spinning the chair around to grab a fresh cup. He had a feeling it was going to be a rocky morning, and he was seldom wrong.

-o-

She stepped into the bedroom, the tray in hand. Barely a step into the room and Chuck's muffled voice came from his partially covered face, "Go away Sarah. I don't want to argue with you."

He was not able to see her movement pause. A very quick visual had him facing the closet and under the blankets. She had been noiseless in her entry, yet Chuck knew exactly the moment she entered the room. In a fraction of a second, she looked down at the tray of food she carried and a slight smile eased over face, relaxing her tense muscles. "_He smelt the food!", _she thought.Not a typical mistake she would make, but then again, she wouldn't bring food to anyone else other than Chuck.

She sat on the bedside opposite him, placing the tray of food down before putting a hand on his blanket covered leg. "Chuck, I'm sorry. I didn't want to snap at you, but I'm not exactly at my best. If this was a Bryce and Sarah Anderson mission, I wouldn't have even given it a second thought...but it's not. This is a Chuck and Sarah Bartowski discussion."

Chuck lost no time in throwing back the blankets, her wording vibrating through him. A weak smile greeted him.

"I need to know why you did what you did Chuck. It's important. You always call, you always let _me know_, and this time it was different. I need to know why." She waited for his response, watching him glance over the food and then study her.

"I was going to say I'm not hungry, but I'd be lying. I'm starving." His stomach growled loudly in agreement. He looked directly into her eyes. "I didn't feel like supper last night but apparently I do need breakfast." Out came the Bartowski grin to which Sarah had no defence.

She punched his arm lightly and pointed to the food as she settled into a cross legged position on the bed with the tray in her lap. "Help me eat this so it doesn't go to waste."

-o-

"Mmmmmm...Morgan...you are the best alarm clock ever!" Anna said, pulling his head up from underneath the blankets.

"Well I try." He said between grins. "Now if you will excuse me my exquisite peach, I need to check up on my bro."

"Say hi to Chuckie for me Morgan." She mumbled as she relaxed into her freshly satisfied state.

"Will do hon", he replied as he dialled Chuck's number.

Leaving no opening for a greeting, Morgan jumped right into speed talking as soon as he heard Chuck's voice.

"Chuck! Buddy! So what's up? Everything good? You were a little under the weather before. Is Sarah taking good care of you or do you need your bro to come over there and cheer you up with my latest plan to kick some ass in CoD?"

Morgan paused, his boyish grin and exuberance damped by the voice on the phone.

"Oh...still in bed...I hear ya..." Morgan glanced over his shoulder, a partial view of Anna's naked leg was visible above the blankets through the bedroom doorway.

"Right...ok dude, I'll let you get back to your breakfast." Hanging up the phone, "Honey! I guess there was no need to worry, my bro is doing the same thing we are." He finished his sentence with a belly flop onto the bed and a large grin.

"Well since you already had desert Morgan, how about you make us something?"

The smile fell off his face, "You mean you want food? As in I have to cook?"

She gave him on look; her flat expression speaking volumes as her arm stretched out from under the blanket to point towards the kitchen.

"Alright, but I'm making pancakes" he said grumpily.

"Sounds good." Anna turned over and snuggled under the blanket. "Wake me when they're done."

_Is this how relationships actually work?, _he wondered quietly as he pulled the frying pan out of the cupboard.

-o-

Casey rolled his eyes and turned off the monitor. There were good days, there were bad days and there were mind numbing days. So far this was sitting somewhere on the numb side of things. He mentally commented that it probably wouldn't be quite so boring if he was getting some from a girlfriend of his own, but he quickly reminded himself that he _wasn't. Somebody had to follow protocol and stay alert._

Punching a few buttons on the keyboard and the monitor's sound turned off. He had an instant 30 minute break from the noise. Boring or not, he still had a job to do.

-o-

Mary lay in bed staring at the ceiling. The mirror reflected her image back down to her. She imagined what she will look like in a few months. Huge was the only descriptor she could come up with. More so with having twins she supposed. Her morning session had just concluded and she needed a shower. She just felt dirty. She had no real explanation for it. It was just how she felt and she had made a mental note to not analyze it anymore as it just depressed her. Instead she attempted of focus on the momentary feeling of bliss from mere seconds ago before sinking back into the morass of gunky feelings she currently wallowed in.

She picked up a picture from the side of her bed. It was very recent and snapped with a telephoto. She had taken it when he was leaving the store. He looked a little preoccupied, but she didn't mind. Any picture of him was better than none. Her hand traced his features as her mind flew back to wonderful and exciting memories of her time with him.

She quietly laid the picture on her belly and pulled the blanket back up and over her. She resolved to make sure that her children would know their father. At any cost.

-o-

With Chuck out the door, Sarah took alone time to make some quick calls. Part of it was personal, part of it was agency.

A call to the agency doctor for a follow up appointment for Chuck. "Mental and Physical", she had told him.

A call to Casey to verify today's activities at Castle and determine exactly how much she was allowed to tell Chuck about the operations there and she was good to go. She already knew his schedule for the day and while Chuck knew she would _definitely _be meeting him for his late lunch break, he didn't know it was going to be a working lunch. Still, it wouldn't exactly be anything out of the ordinary; at least, as they define it. A deep breath in, a quick glance around the apartment and a satisfied smile. It was shaping up to be an alright day after all.

-o-

Chuck was at work with plenty of time to spare. Sitting in the Nerd Herd chair, his thoughts centered on his relaxing morning. He was very glad his shift didn't start until 10am today as it allowed him time to reconcile a bit with Sarah and he savoured every moment of his breakfast time with her. He still felt something weird was going on inside his head, but it had yet to show its face today.

Morgan and Anna both checked in on him and found him to be _satisfactory_. Or at least that's the wording they used to discuss his current presence at work upon arrival for his shift. He let their comments slide; partly due to his extended absence recently and partly because he had no intention of pursuing any conversations that might distract him from an otherwise refreshingly boring and _normal_ workday.

True to his expectations, the rest of the workday was uneventful and his late start time allowed for a 2pm lunch, at which point Sarah promptly swept in through the BuyMore front entrance. His mind wandered into a day dream as he made mental notes of her new Orange Orange outfit. He marvelled at how she could make any outfit look sexy.

"Chuck?...Chuck?" She smirked as touched his arm to get his attention.

At her touch Chuck startled out of his daydream, "What? Sarah? Lunch?"

She gave him one of her 'from the heart' smiles that she reserved for him, as her hand found his and gently pulled him from the chair. "Yes, lunch." she said.

"Where to?", he asked as he let himself be pulled along.

"My _new _job."

-o-

Sarah had picked up some takeout for lunch, but had removed herself from the room to take care of some other work while Casey brought Chuck up to speed as he ate. Sitting in the small room by herself allowed her to look into a few things while both of the men were preoccupied. Casey's voice flowed out of one surveillance monitor while she worked at the computer looking for any clues or data on the initial CIA projects that Laslo had spoken about. She was hopeful that could find something on the current status of any test subjects, even if the project itself was blacklisted and removed. It was a long shot, but worth a try.

It was taking a little longer than expected as she flicked a quick glance, and with it her attention, to the surveillance monitor every time Chuck spoke.

"What's that?", Chuck asked as he pointed to a large white binder on a nearby table.

"The instruction manual for Castle." Casey replied.

"Castle. What's that?"

Casey raised his arm and twirled his hand in a 360 degree arc. "This is numb-nuts."

Chuck took the comment in stride with a small smile and nod of approval. "Cool. "So wouldn't it be easier to just give me that? I could skim..."

Cutting him off, he growled impatiently, "No. You're not allowed. Now stop interrupting or we will never get this over with."

Sarah shifted her attention back to the task at hand, a small but knowing smirk on her lips. Casey was still Casey.

Some things never change.

-o-

Director Graham stood in an otherwise nondescript hallway, directly in front of one of the many closed doors, his cell phone at his ear. The only outstanding thing of note was a plaque on the wall beside the door that said _General Beckman._ The director was less focused on the door and plaque and more so on the phone conversation.

"How! When?", he asked, consciously aware that he had been unable to keep the frustration from his voice.

He pulled his lips into a tight line as he listened, responding with a more even tone, "Yes sir, I will inform her."

"Yes sir, I'm aware of the importance of the current human intersect. I will convey that to her."

"I will inform them as soon as I bring her up to speed. I'm outside her office now."

"Consider it done."

He pulled the phone from his ear, flipped it shut before tucking it back into his suit pocket. Sucking a deep breath in, adjusting his face to a passively calm smile and he stepped forward, not bothering to knock, his hand reaching for the door knob instead.

-o-


End file.
